PROPAGATION 137 



back of the frame, and, when required, to add 

 water to keep it up to the desired level. 



Pots containing seeds should be plunged up 

 to the brim in the peat, which will keep 

 them sufficiently damp, and also tend to 

 preserve them at an even temperature. By 

 this device the danger of the pots becoming 

 too dry is reduced to a minimum, and as the 

 moisture is merely absorbed from the outside, 

 there is no chance of their becoming water- 

 logged. A few minutes two or three times a 

 week is all the attention they will require. 



Much time may be gained, especially in 

 the case of the slower germinating seeds, by 

 making, in a pit or frame, a very gentle hot- 

 bed, and either sinking in the bed the pots 

 in which the seeds are sown, or else covering 

 it with about 4 inches of fine soil and sowing 

 the seeds on that. Personally, I think the 

 chief objection to this method is that the seed- 

 lings will require to be very carefully treated 

 until they are sufficiently hardened off. There 

 is also the danger of the hotbed cooling down 

 before the seedlings are strong enough to look 

 after themselves. I therefore much prefer the 



