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TREES PLANTED BY MACHINE.--A machine which plants from ten to
fifteen thousand forest trees seedlings a day is now being used at the
Letchworth Park Forest and Arboretum, in Wyoming County, N. Y.,
according to officials of the Forest Service who are acting as advisers
in the work. Previously the planting had been done by hand at the rate
of 1,200 to 1,500 trees each day per man.

The machine was designed to set out cabbage and tomato plants, but works
equally well with trees. It is about the size of an ordinary mowing
machine and is operated by three men and two horses. One man drives the
team while the other two handle the seedlings. The machine makes a
furrow in which the trees are set at any desired distance, and an
automatic device indicates where they should be dropped. Two metal-tired
wheels push and roll the dirt firmly down around the roots. This is a
very desirable feature, it is said, because the trees are apt to die if
this is not well done. Two attachments make it possible to place water
and fertilizer at the roots of each seedling. Another attachment marks
the line on which the next row of trees is to be planted.

No cost figures are available yet, but officials say that the cost will
be much less than when the planting is done by hand. It is stated that
the machine can be used on any land which has been cleared and is not
too rough to plow and harrow.--U. S. Dept. Agri.

The Greenhouse versus Hotbeds.

FRANK H. GIBBS, MARKET GARDENER, ST. ANTHONY PARK.

In discussing the subject assigned me, I will only speak of hotbeds and
hothouses as used for the purpose of growing vegetables and early
vegetable plants.

The hotbed is still very desirable where it is wanted on a small scale
to grow early vegetables for the home or market, as the small cost for
an outfit is very small as compared to hothouses. Sash 4x5 ft., which is
the favorite size with market gardeners, can be purchased for about
$2.00 each glazed, and a box 5x16 ft. to hold four sash can be made for
$1.50, making an outlay less than $10.00 for 80 sq. ft. of bed. With
good care sash and boxes will last eight years.

Where the beds are put down in early February two crops of lettuce and
one crop of cucumbers can be grown, and when the spring is late three
crops of lettuce before outdoor lettuce appears on the market, when the
beds are given over entirely to the cucumber crop. Lettuce at that time
genera