302 



SPARTIUM. 



depressing, or slightly hollowing 

 out a circle from three to six inches 

 in diameter, and from a quarter to 

 half an inch in depth, according to 

 the size of the seeds to be sown. 

 As most seeds germinate best when 

 gently pressed into the soil, a very 

 good mode for amateurs is to take 

 the saucer of a flower-pot, of the 

 diameter of the patch, and gently 

 press down the soil ; and then to 

 strew a few seeds on the level sur- 

 face thus formed. Half-a-dozen 

 seeds will be sufficient, of even the 

 smallest growing plants, if the seeds 

 are good. The next operation is to 

 sprinkle a little fine soil over the 

 seeds, so as to cover them to about 

 the same dejDth as the seed is thick. 

 After this, the saucer should be 

 again applied, so as to press down 

 the soil and the seeds together ; and 

 if there be any danger apprehended 

 from birds or drought, an empty 

 flower-pot should be tui-ned over 

 the patch till the plants come up. 

 The larger seeds of flowers, such as 

 Lupines, Sweet Peas, &c., may be 

 sown three or four in a patch ; and 

 some kinds of Lupines, such as X. 

 Cruclcshdnksii and L. mutdhilis, 

 will not require more than a single 

 seed. In the case of large seeds, 

 and of all the commoner kinds, the 

 use of the saucer for preparing the 

 ground, and cf the empty flower-pot 

 as a protection, may be dispensed 

 with. 



In sowing broadcast, the bed or 

 space to be covered being stirred up 

 with the spade, and raked fine on the 

 surface, should be gently smoothed 

 with the back of the spade, and the 

 seeds afterwards strewed over it, so 

 as to lie, if the seed be good, at an 

 inch or two apart, or less, if the 

 plants are to be thinned out or 

 transplanted. The seeds may then 

 be covered by strewing over them 

 some fine mould ; and this may be 



I " firmed," as the gardeners term it, 

 by gently beating the ground flat 

 with the spade. For ordinary seeds, 

 i raking the surface smooth before 

 sowing, and after sowing, again 

 raking it, will be found sufficient ; 

 and the raking should always be 

 light in proportion to the smallness 

 of the seeds. In sowing grass seeds 

 to form a lawn, the ground should 

 be beaten equally firm throughout, 

 to prevent it from sinking unequally 

 ' afterwards : and after it has been 

 rendered perfectly smooth and even, 

 j the seeds should be sown quite 

 I thick, and raked in so gently, that 

 ! the teeth of the rake may not pene- 

 trate more than half an incb into 

 I the soil. 



I So-s\ing in drills, or little furrows 



I drawn by the hoe, is chiefly required 



j for edgings ; and as the plants suited 



! to this purpose are small, and also 



the seeds, great care ought to be 



taken to distribute them equally, 



and not to cover tbem with too 



much earth, 



Spanish Broom. — Spdrtiumjun- 

 ceum. — See Spa'rtium. 



Spara'xis. — Iridece. — Beautiful 

 bulbous plants, that will flower 

 vigorously if grown in a well- 

 drained bed in the open air. — For 

 the mode of forming tlie bed, see 

 I'xiA. 



Spa'rtium. — Leguminosce. — The 

 Spanish Broom. — A well-known up- 

 right shrub, with upright deep -green 

 branches, and very few leaves, which 

 soon drop off". The flowers, which 

 are in terminal racemes, are large, 

 and of a deep yellow. It is a native 

 of Spain and Portugal, and, in short, 

 of the whole of the South of Europe, 

 where it grows in rocky situations, 

 and in dry gravelly soils. In En- 

 gland it iDroduces a good eff'ect in a 

 shrubbery, and it will grow vigo- 

 rously wherever the soil is gravelly 

 or sandy ; but it does not thrive in 



