How to manage a Garden 



It is rather difficult to say how deep seed should be 

 sown, for it varies so greatly in size. It has been said, 

 and it is a fairly safe practice, that seed should be buried 

 to a depth equal to three or four times its thickness. A 

 word of advice is also needed on the subject of thick or 

 thin sowing. Most catalogues will advise thick sowing, 

 but we can hardly accept their statements and argument 

 as being impartial, for obviously, the thicker the seeds 

 are sown, the greater the quantity needed, and the 

 greater in consequence the seedsman's custom. It is 

 quite possible to err also in the other direction and 

 leave many gaps, or to suffer great loss from the 

 attacks of slugs, &c. If seed is sown thickly it must 

 be thinned quickly. Now, here lies a mischief. It may 

 not be possible to perform the work for a few days, 

 so that the seedlings quickly become overcrowded and 

 suffer from it. If thin sowing had happened, the need 

 for thinning would have been less imperative, and when 

 thinned, the plants having grown to a decent size would 

 not suffer from the check so much as if they were but 

 a few days old. I certainly advise thin sowing, but let 

 it not be carried to extremes. Slugs and other enemies 

 must be warred against. 



For sowing seed broadcast, beds four feet wide and six 

 feet long should be made up, and let there be paths or 

 alleys twelve or eighteen inches wide between them. 

 There need not be any elaborate work about these, such 

 as we used to see some years ago. As regards the distance 

 apart at which drills should be made, a more difficult 

 question confronts us, and must really be decided only by 

 a knowledge of the class of seeds to be used. It is safe, 

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