140 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



and reacUly,permeable, not only to_admit, air .and heat 

 and to retain moisture, but so that the radicle or young 

 root may penetrate the earth without hindrance, and 

 also permit the stem to grow upright unimpeded. The 

 soil should in most cases be deep, and of such a natnre 

 that the young plant will receive a constant and regular 

 supply of moisture. Nature serves as a guide to us in 

 many of the operations connected with the art of propa- 

 gation ; yet it should be remembered that the sowing of 

 Feeds and transplanting are artificial operations instead of 

 natural ones, and we follow nature only when it serves 

 our purpose, or as we are compelled to do so by natural 

 laws. Nature is so plastic that she allows us to mold her 

 gifts into forms that meet our wants and tastes, confining 

 us only within, certain limits that are difficult to de- 

 termine. 



^Nature perfects as well as destroys, and thus that equi- 

 librium is preserved which is observable throughout the 

 vegetable kingdom. If we scatter seed in every instance 

 exactly as is done by nature, we should not make more 

 than one in ten thousand grow. 



While it is quite obvious that seeds require moisture 

 to insure their germination, it is only the acquatic kinds 

 that will bear an unlimited amount ; for, while the seeds 

 of ordinary field and garden plants may sprout when 

 submerged, they require air to insure a continuous 

 growth. To keep a seed-bed constantly soaked or, satu- 

 rated with water is almost as injurious as -to allow the 

 seed to suffer for the lack of a .sufficient amount of mois- 

 ^ture, * The propagator must always exercise his own good 

 judgment in such matters, varying his treatment accord- 

 ing to the size and nature of the seed as well as the kind 

 and condition of the soil. 



Seeds forced in a high temperature, or sprouted in a 

 low one, usually produce feeble plants. If the tejnpera- 

 ture of the soil is between fifty and sixty degrees, -Fah. ; . 



