1S73.] SEED-TIME. Ill 



it : many seeds require time to germinate, and will not be forced. Such 

 seeds as Tacsonia, Lapageria, Clianthus, Primulas of sorts, Camellia, 

 will be found to germinate more satisfactorily in a moist, mild 

 atmospheric temperature, than plunged in bottom heat ; or they will 

 even do better sown in the open air under a hand-light in summer. 



In spring all seeds should be covered lightly ; the soil is yet cold, 

 and if deeply covered they may rot or be killed before germination. 

 The soil is moist enough on the surface at this season for all seeds, 

 and when lightly covered they feel the sun-heat sooner. Seeds of 

 succulents, which should now be sown if not done in autumn, should 

 not be covered at all, but sown on a fine surface, the soil previously 

 well soaked with water ; Fern and Orchid seeds in the same way, 

 merely covering the pan with a piece of glass or a bell-glass. Lobelia, 

 Petunia, Wigandia, Pyrethrum, Coleus, and suchlike fine-seeded 

 things, should be managed in the same way. Larger seeds may be 

 covered lightly, and avoid with these too much water at this season : in 

 moist soil no water is necessary until they have germinated, if the 

 seed-pans are in a moist pit. 



To mention all the seeds which should or might be sown this month, 

 would embrace the most of the catalogue. Peas are a vexatious 

 question : our first sowing of Sangster's No. 1 and Early Long Pod 

 Beans was in January, covering the seed with a dose of wood-ashes. 

 Onions should be sown as soon after the new year as possible ; 

 we have sown theai, 200 miles north of the Tweed, in the second 

 week of February; our summers are none too long to grow and 

 mature the Onion crop, at least in the north : the immense fine-ripened 

 Onions from Spain and Portugal are plump and hard in the shop- 

 windows after our English Onions are all sprouting. Soil for Onions 

 should be rich on the surface to start them ; they are not deep rooting : 

 draw the drills entirely in rotten manure if possible, sow thin, and 

 after the first thinning of the crop, give a dressing of guano to stimu- 

 late the young plants over the season in early May, when the 

 ground is still cold ; this is the time when weakness in a quarter of 

 Onions generally shows itself. 



Carrots, Parsnips, Parsley, should be sown early while the soil is 

 moist, and that they may get a good hold of the ground before 

 drought sets in ; a dry, hungry soil is useless for these. The seeds of 

 the two former being light, should be lightly covered ; a sprinkling of 

 wood-ashes is a good covering for Carrots. Plump, well-grown French 

 horn Carrots are much the most acceptable with the cook at all times 

 for the dining-room ; the larger sorts as intermediate Carrots for general 

 use. It is often recommended to dig in a layer of dung under the 

 first spit of soil to make Carrots long ; they are said to run down for 



