SPRING IN 



articles are sold. They can be varied to suit 

 the peculiarities of the soil in different locali- 

 ties. The dealer of whom you purchase will be 

 able to tell you what kind will be likely to prove 

 most effective with you if you give him an idea 

 of the kind of soil you intend to use it on. He 

 will also be able to advise the proportion in 

 which it should be used. These matters I can- 

 not give definite advice about, because soils 

 vary to such an extent in kind and quality that 

 what would apply in one place might not be 

 the proper kind to use a few miles away. 



Seed-sowing is a delicate operation and must 

 be done carefully, or there will be sorry fail- 

 ures. The seed of many kinds of plants is so 

 fine that it will fail to germinate if covered 

 deeply, in fact, it does not require any cover- 

 ing. In sowing Petunias, Portulacas, and 

 others of that class I would scatter the seed 

 on the soil,, which should, of course, be as mel- 

 low as possible before entrusting seed to it, 

 and then go over the bed with a smooth board 

 and press the soil down firmly. This forces 

 the seed into the earth, and makes the soil so 

 compact that it will retain all the moisture 

 necessary to bring about germination. Larger 

 seed can be covered lightly by sifting fine soil 



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