CHAPTER VII. 



ON CLEANING AND SOWING THE SEED, AND THE SUBSE- 

 QUENT TREATMENT OF THE SEEDLINGS. 



In the last Chapter we left the seeds stored up for winter, that drear season at 

 which the Flower Garden presents but few attractions. Its denizens, stripped of 

 their gay attire, are sunk in repose ; often bound fast in icy chains ; all vegetation 

 sharino- in one general imprisonment, waiting for the balmy breath of spring to 

 release them from their slumbers, to burst forth endued with fresh life and vigour. 

 It is for this latter state of things we must watch ; for it is advantageous to sow 

 the seeds in the earliest of spring. The end of February or beginning of March 

 is a good time ; but should the frost be too severe then to admit of the work being 

 done well, we must delay the operation until a fitting opportunity occurs. 



When removing the seed-pods from the boxes or pots in which they have been 

 stored, the seeds should be rubbed out between the hands previous to sowing. 

 Some pods that are hard, or were not fully ripened when gathered, will require 

 stronger measures to separate them. These may be rubbed through a coarse wire 

 sieve, the hard coating of the seeds protecting them from injury in the process ; 

 and if any are found proof against this, they may be crushed beneath a rolling- 

 pin, or slight taps of the hammer. 



So soon as the seeds are broken up they should be laid out in the sun and air to 

 dry ; and when sufficiently dried it is ea?y to rid them of their pulp and external 

 covering by sifting and winnowing in pans. The seeds then are sufficiently clean 

 for sowing ; and in what manner shall this be performed ? 



The French growers sow principally in the open ground, either in beds or in 

 drills by the sides of walks ; but M. Hardy, of the Jardin du Luxembourg, sows 

 largely in frames. I remember seeing there, about four years since, a vast number 

 growing in a wooden frame, the most of them apparently varieties of Rosa Indica, 

 and their healthful appearance and vigorous growth sufficiently attested the apti- 

 tude of the treatment. 



If a frame cannot be spared for the purpose, the tender kinds, at least, should 

 be sown in pans, thoroughly drained, and filled with equal parts of leaf mould 

 and loam well mixed together. After the seeds are sown they may be watered, 

 and covered over with about half an inch of the same soil, sifted, and mixed with 



