204 The American Flower Garden 



with sand and rotted sod fibre or leaf-mould, and sift soil enough 

 to spread over the top of the bed to the depth of one inch. Tender 

 young rootlets cannot push their way through clay or heavy soil 

 or stones as they are so often expected to do. The seeds, previously 

 soaked, should be shaken up lightly in a little earth to separate 

 them, and then sown in the sifted soil at a depth proportionate 

 to their size the tiny seeds of hardy poppies, for example, on 

 the surface of the bed, larger ones relatively deeper. Then all 

 must be pressed down firmly with a board or the palm of the 

 hand to bring the earth in contact with the first hair-like roots 

 that will reach out in search of food. Probably more seeds fail 

 to grow through having air spaces around them than from any 

 other cause. The danger is lest seeds, however carefully planted, 

 may dry out, which is why some people go to the extra trouble 

 of sowing them in shallow boxes placed on their piazza floors 

 where they can sprinkle them with a whisk broom frequently 

 rather than put them in a seed bed away from the house where 

 they may be forgotten. Seedlings started in boxes will need to be 

 transplanted to the open ground within a few weeks. 



Every evening, when there has been no rain, the bed should 

 be watered through a fine nozzle; a heavy downpour from a hose 

 or the sprayless spout of a watering can would wash away the 

 soil from the seedlings roots. As the plants increase in size the 

 nightly watering may be gradually discontinued, except during 

 drought, if the surface of the ground be kept well stirred with a 

 hoe between waterings. 



Many weeds that the hoe dare not touch will necessarily be 

 pulled by hand, and seedlings, too, if you have made the usual 

 mistake of sowing too many seeds to the foot. Don t crowd the 

 bed. It is no work to give each seedling all the room it needs 



