VARIETIES FEOM SEED. 85 



seeds, as compared with plants, is very low ; a package 

 of seed costing twenty-five cents will usually raise as 

 many plants as could be bought from the florists for 

 $25. It is true that care and labor are necessary 

 in starting them, but the pleasure derived from the opera- 

 tion alone, well repays that, independently of economic 

 considerations. April is the best month for sowing most 

 of the seeds of tropical plants, and it is best done, where 

 there is the convenience, in a hot-bed. The hot-bed is 

 made in the usual manner. The soil used should be, 

 if possible, of a light, sandy nature, mixed with at least 

 one-third of leaf-mould from the woods ; if the leaf-mould 

 is not procurable, pulverized muck, or stable manure j-otted 

 to the condition of mould, will do nearly as well. This is 

 spread over the manure of the depth of about six inches. 

 The sashes of the hot-bed should fit close, and there should 

 be some material ready for covering the sash at night ; 

 either straw-mats or shutters. "We, ourselves, use shut- 

 ters made out of ^-inch stuff, and exactly the size of the 

 sash. All these preparations being made, insert a ther- 

 mometer in the soil covering the hot-bed, and when it 

 indicates a declining temperature of 75, the seeds may 

 be sown. Most of the flower-seeds may be sown in a hot- 

 bed just as we sovv egg-plants or tomatoes, which is best 

 done for private use by sowing in rows from a quarter of 

 an inch to an inch in depth, according to the size of the 

 seed, the distance between the rows being two or three 

 inches. Let me here repeat a caution that I have 

 often given in connection with seed-sowing : Be sure that 

 the soil used for covering the seed is light; nothing is 

 better than leaf-mould, but if it can not be got, use the 

 other substitutes before named. One half of the loss in 

 seeds is in consequence of their being covered with a 

 heavy, clayey soil. The vital force of different plants in 

 this respect is widely different. Thus, while the seeds of 

 tomato will germinate in almost any Boil, the egg-plant 



