40 PRACTICAL GARDENING. 



proper depth ; and on a large scale it is very generally adopted. 

 Even the plough is set to work to make a furrow, into which 

 the seed is dropped at proper distances, and the next furrow 

 made fills up the one which has received the seed. 



The depth which seeds ought to be placed in the earth 

 depends greatly on the size of them ; small seeds ought only 

 to be fairly covered, but covering is absolutely necessary for 

 protection, or it would be devoured by bii^ds and also vermin, 

 even were it not necessary for its proj^er germination. How- 

 ever, so long as all small seeds are fairly covered, they will 

 take no harm ; the potato requires to be covered four inches 

 at the least in summer time, and six if planted in winter or 

 autumn ; scarlet beans should be covered a good inch and a 

 half, and French beans half that depth. 



The great art of sowing is, to be able to spread the seed so 

 thinly and evenly as to waste very little : even the advocate 

 of broadcast sowing concedes this, that where there is one that 

 can sow well, there are hundreds who waste seed, and yet do 

 not sow all the ground. Many seeds are sown on beds very 

 thick, for the sake of taking but httle room at first, and when 

 they are grown large enough to handle, pricked out three or 

 four inches apart to grow strong, and lastly j^lanted out at the 

 proper distances to make their full growth ; such, for instance, 

 as cabbages of all kiuds, Brussels sprouts, brocoh, cauliflowers, 

 Scoth kale, and even scarlet beans, are often, for the sake of 

 forwarding them, grown in a patch under slight protection, 

 and planted out in ]\Iay. 



The seasons of sowing have a good deal to do with the 

 mode of sowing ; and the length of time a crop has to be iu 

 the ground is another circumstance which weighs a little in 

 the determining as to the mode of sowing ; but, upon the 

 whole, in garden-crops, for the sake of appearance, we should 

 always recommend drill-sowing, in preference to broadcast. 



There are some permanent subjects which may be either 

 sown where they are to remain, or sown in patches, and be 

 planted out. Of the most particular, there are asparagus, 

 rhubarb, and sea-kale. IMany make asparagus-beds with roots 

 one or two years old, and sea-kale with plants which have 

 gro\A'n one complete season and died down. Rhubarb is fre- 

 quently formed into regular plantations from roots, offsets, 

 and seeds, as the case may be. In these cases, when the seed 

 is to form the bed, rhubarb Avould be dibbled in at the propeif 



