234 GARDEN LABOURS WITH PLANTS. 



whence the extra covering is taken, the seedling plants rise very irregularly. 

 There are various modes of preventing this from taking place, the more 

 common of which, when the surface of the soil is dry, is to " tread in " the 

 seed by going over the plot with a kind of shuffling movement, holding the 

 feet close together. Another mode is to roll the ground with a roller, more 

 or less heavy according to the nature of the soil ; and a third is to form the 

 ground into beds with narrow paths between, and to cover the seed with soil 

 taken out of these paths. Perhaps the best of these modes for general pur- 

 poses and on a large scale, is treading in, or rolling in, which is preferable to 

 treading ; because raking in alone, if the soil is very dry and loose, even 

 though the seeds should be covered equally, will admit the access of air and 

 light to many of them in a greater degree than is favourable for germination 

 (See Sowing, 552.") In raking off weeds, and in raking off short grass or leaves, 

 the rake requires to be held in such a position as that the teeth shall form a 

 much more acute angle with the horizon than in raking dug soil ; because the 

 object in raking off grass or leaves is not to stir the soil, but merely to remove 

 what is on its surface. All raking, excepting that of gravel, and newly mown 

 grass, should be performed in dry weather. Wet weather is the most favourable 

 for raking gravel, because if stirred in a wet state, and rolled afterwards when 

 dry on the surface, it binds better; and wet weather is most suitable for 

 raking grass, because the leaves when wet adhere better together than when 

 dry. 



540. Rolling is applied to walks to render their surface smooth, firm, and im- 

 pervious to rain, and it is always most effective when the gravel is moist below and 

 moderately dry above. When dry gravel is laid over the bottom of a walk that 

 is in a very wet or puddled state, rolling should not be attempted till the whole 

 is uniformly saturated, either by rain, which is preferable, or artificially ; 

 otherwise it will long remain unconsolidated. Grass lawns are also rolled to 

 render the surface of the soil smooth and even, for which purpose they are pre- 

 viously raked or scraped to destroy such inequalities as are produced by worm 

 casts, or other accumulations that would interfere with the scythe, the 

 uniform pressure of the roller, or the uniform smoothness and colour of the 

 lawn. The scraping and raking are best performed in dry weather, and the 

 rolling as soon after rain as the surface has become somewhat dry. Rolling 

 dug grounds in order to break and reduce a cloddy surface, or to press in and 

 cover newly sown seeds, can only be performed to advantage when both soil 

 and weather are dry. Beating, which in many cases effects the same object 

 as rolling, is also most effective when the body of the soil is moist and the 

 surface dry ; and the same may be said of Ramming, and of every other mode 

 of consolidating soils, turf, or gravel. 



541. Screening or lifting soil or gravel is best performed when these mate- 

 rials are dry ; but excepting for sowing seeds, or planting very small or tender 

 plants or cuttings, sifted soil is seldom wanted, it being found that pieces of 

 turf, roots, and stones in soil are useful to plants, as forming vacuities for air, 

 or for accumulations of decaying vegetable matter; or, more especially in the 

 case of freestone, sources of moisture. 



542. Other labours on the soil are either not peculiar to horticulture, such 

 as picking, shovelling, sweeping, inserting stakes by perforators (391); or they 

 are peculiar to particular departments of gardening, such as cuffing, which is 

 a nursery labour, forming loam edgings, which is a local practice, &c. 



