136 THE FLORIST. 



selection of their stock." Those, therefore, who want cheap, because 

 good bargains, by applying to these, and paying a fair remunerative 

 price, will not be disappointed. 



Having obtained good seeds, there are two or three points of essential 

 importance to be attended to ; the first is, that the soil is in a proper 

 condition to receive the seed ; the second is, that all seeds are properly 

 covered ; and the third is, that all seeds are sown in proper season. 

 With regard to the first point, we may remark that, before any soil is 

 in a condition fit to receive seed, it should be well drained, deeply dug, 

 well pulverised, and if at all poor, it should have plenty of well rotted 

 manure forked into it. We have oftentimes seen seed out of the 

 same bag sown — one portion on properly prepared land, and the other 

 part on land in a bad condition, and the results invariably were, — 

 that on the properly prepared land it produced most abundant crops ; 

 and that on the land in bad condition it either perished altogether, or 

 yielded badly. Inexperienced persons, when they sow good seed on 

 land in bad condition, and find it either fails altogether, or turns out 

 badly, are very apt to blame the seeds ; and the seedsman, as a matter 

 of course, is grumbled at, or gets the name of a dishonest tradesman, 

 when in reality the fault laid with the person who sowed on 

 badly prepared land. There are few practical men but have known 

 cases of this description ; we, ourselves, have often heard people say, 

 " How is it, Mr. So-and-So, that my seed, which I got from Mr. Some- 

 body, the seedsman, turned out badly ? some failed to grow altogether, 

 and the other part turned out badly ; I will not get my seeds any more 

 of that seedsman." We have sometimes inquired (but not always, for 

 this class of persons is frequently very knowing) if the soil was in 

 proper condition when the seed was sown ; and have always found, 

 that when good seed had been sown and perished, one of the causes 

 was owing to the land being in bad condition. 



With regard to the second point, that all seeds should be properly 

 covered, we may remark, that this is a point which is very frequently 

 badly performed, either from ignorance or negligence. It is not 

 unusual to see small seed buried to so great a depth that it is impos- 

 sible for it to grow. All the smaller kinds of seeds cannot be covered 

 too lightly, if only the surface be kept uniformly moist and shaded ; 

 but most of the larger kinds of seeds do best when covered a moderate 

 depth — say one, two, three, or more inches, according to the kind. 

 Many failures arise from want of attention to these matters. 



With regard to the third point, that all seeds should be sown in 

 proper season, we may remark that this is a matter of the utmost 

 importance. Of course, we would not insist on anything being sown 

 always at a stated time, as the weather and the state of the land will 

 more or less rule these matters. But, if the weather and the land be 

 favourable, not a day should be lost in sowing seed when the proper 

 season for doing so arrives. The above points are all within the con- 

 trol of man, and when properly attended to, and good seed is sown, the 

 results will in general be satisfactory, unless the seasons, which are 

 above the control of man, be very unfavourable. 



Cold and wet are always injurious to seeds, and must be always 



