286 Transactions op the 



a depth of only about three inches from the surface. That superficial 

 layer will rarely fail to contain sufficient food for the young plants, 

 even should there be a comparatively barren subsoil below, which we 

 have intended not to disturb. 



SPROUTING SEED. 



"When it is desired to bring plants forward quickly from the time of 

 sowing, the seed for that purpose may be sprouted. To do this, sift 

 into a suitable vessel (say a tin pan with holes in the bottom) rotten 

 wood to a bulk two or three times that of the amount of seed to be 

 sprouted. Moisteu with milk-warm water, and place where the tem- 

 perature can be maintained at about seventy degrees Fahrenheit. 

 When the weather serves, expose to the sun. The mass should not be 

 allowed to dry, nor the lower portion to be much wetter than the upper. 

 Warm water to maintain the proper moisture should be added several 

 times in each twenty-four hours. If a few drops of ammonia be added 

 to it, the sprouting is likely to take place sooner, and, some people 

 believe, the subsequent development of the young plant to proceed 

 more rapidly. Alter the tenth day, examine the seeds daily with a 

 magnifying glass, and when the brown hulls begin to crack, disclosing 

 the white kernel, germination has begun and the seed is fit to sow. 

 This ought to be in from ten to twenty days after wetting. To sow, 

 mix with ashes, and proceed as before described. 



Seed to be sown later than January ought to be first sprouted, unless 

 the ground be likely to freeze; and it should be well to take some 

 chances on this point; and if a killing freeze do come, the beds can be 

 sown over again. Sprouting may also be resorted to, to test the vitality 

 of seed. Another test is to throw a pinch of seed on a hot stove, when, 

 if they be sound, they should pop with a crepitating noise. A third 

 test is to put a pinch of seed in the palm of one hand, and rub vigor- 

 ously with the thumb of the other; all imperfect seeds will reduce to 

 an impalpable powder and disappear; those that remain are sound, 

 though they may have lost vitality. If a parcel of seed should fail 

 under these tests to exhibit vitality, it had better be rejected. 



FLEAS. 



During a period of not more than forty-eight hours — that is, from the 

 day following its first emergence from the soil to the end of the second 

 day following that, the young plant is liable to destruction from a 

 minute flea, itself scarcely larger than a tobacco seed — which will 

 appear in the beds in such dense swarms that the surface of the ground 

 seems literally "alive." Within twenty-four hours they may sweep 

 away an entire growth of young plants within the ages specified. 

 After they are three days old. the plants appear to be proof against — 

 or safe from — the attack of this enemy. He is apt to make his appear- 

 ance on a warm windless day — such as are always liable to occur at the 

 season of the 3*ear when tobacco plants are sprouting. I am not aware 

 that the flea has ever been detected, in California, on a cold or bluster- 

 ing day. He is easily destroyed by dust of dry tobacco, which is to be 

 sprinkled freel}' upon the beds as soon as the flea is detected. 



As the dust falls, the surface of the bed seems to rise to meet it as 

 myriads of the little creatures leap into the air, but they fall back and 

 are heard from no more. Thus easily extinguished, they need not be 



