HOW TO MAKE DELICATE SEEDS GROW. 



BV PROFESSOR LI.NDLEY. 



•' How am I to sow my flower-seeds ?" " I 

 have had some beautiful seeds given tome 

 but I have no gardener, and I don't know 

 what to do with them." " I don't know 

 how it is, but my gardener never can get 

 his seeds to grow. What shall I do ?" 

 " How deep, sir, toould you advise me to 

 bury my seeds V 



Such are the sounds of woe with which our 

 ears are not uncommonly assailed. That in- 

 formation is much wanted in this matter is 

 most certain ; that endless mistakes follow 

 in the train of all vague directions nobody 

 can doubt ; that seed-sowing does demand 

 some "knack" and practice we readily ad- 

 mit, and therefore we shall on this occasion 

 utter no vox ambigua, but cut the matter 

 short by saying, " Don't bury your seeds at 

 all !" 



We can quite imagine the surprise that 

 this announcement will occasion in some 

 minds ; but we presume to hope that when 

 we have been heard to an end, the recom- 

 mendation will not be thought so paradox- 

 ical as it appears to be. 



Let us, in the first place, ask why seeds 

 arc buried alive under clods of earth ? Does 

 Nature thus inter them ? And if so, who 

 or what is her grave-digger ? When the 

 acorn falls it has no power of wriggling in- 

 to a hole in the ground, and when the 

 chickweed scatters its tiny seeds they lie 

 and grow where they fall. What reasons, 

 then, can gardeners have for making them- 

 selves seminal sextons ? 



" Reasons !'' says the man of learning, 

 " I will give you fifty ; firstly, a seed must 

 have darkness and oxide of hydrogen in or- 

 der to germinate ; under these influences 

 its C combines with the of the latter, and 

 forms CO ¥ which is extricated ; then dis- 

 taste comes into play, and the amylaceous 

 particles are saccharified; thirdly" — but 

 hold — enough of that. "Reasons!" says 

 Mr. Polyanthus, the gardener, " why how 

 are you to keep the birds off if you do not 

 bury the seeds ? or the mice ? or such ver- 

 min. How are you to keep them moist 



when they first chip the shell ? How are 

 they to hold to the soil when they have got 

 a root? Reasons enough are these, I 

 think." 



Certainly. But, then, cannot all these 

 objects be secured by other means than bu- 

 rial ? Let us see. 



We want fine dry soil. First provide 

 that ; get the ground level, and press it 

 gently with a piece of tile or glass. If it 

 contains stones or clods remove them. If 

 your seeds are very small, sift over it a lit- 

 tle silver sand, or peat ; upon this scatter 

 the seeds thinly. If they are excessively 

 small mix them before sowing with dry 

 sand or peat, in order to separate them ; 

 and again with gentleness press all flat. 



Then provide some coarse Moss — any 

 sort will do ; but Bog-moss or Sphagnum 

 is the best — having previously soaked it in 

 boiling water to kill insects or their eggs. 

 Press it till its wetness is exchanged for 

 dampness, and then, while warm, scatter 

 it loosely over the seeds. Press it down ; 

 invert over the Moss a common garden pot, 

 lay a tile on the hole, and the operation is 

 performed. 



But the little apparatus thus contrived 

 must be watched. In a day or two lift up 

 the pot, raise the Moss, and examine the 

 seeds. If the moss is dry, which is not 

 likely to happen, again damp it with warm 

 water. If all is still, have patience. Thus 

 go on until you find your seeds beginning 

 to grow. Then remove the tile from the 

 hole in your pot, and leave them for ano- 

 ther day. At the end of that time you will 

 possibly find that the seeds have grown 

 much more ; if so take away a part of the 

 Moss, so as to give the young things more 

 air and light. The next day, raise the pot 

 on one side, so as to open it to the south. 

 This may be done with a stone placed be- 

 neath its front edge ; but do not raise it all 

 round, because if you do the strong current 

 of air setting over your seedlings and 

 through the hole in the pot will chill them. 

 As soon as you find the seedlings green and 



