DEPTH OF COVERING 125 



practice, which involves succession of small areas, must be enter- 

 prisingly venturesome. He must take some chances of losing a 

 sowing or planting and of renewing it, and he should always keep 

 adequate supplies of seeds or seedlings at hand. It is a great deal bet- 

 ter to lose a sowing than to set up some arbitrary dead-sure date for 

 sowing; for with such a policy he will never have anything early, 

 and perhaps never anything profitable. Field work for staple vege- 

 tables is another proposition, but field work for shipment of early 

 stuff is always attended by some risk, for the grower has to venture 

 everything on doing the best he can to be safe and early, but to be 

 early at any rate. 



Although this is true it must be always remembered that noth- 

 ing is gained in working the soil or sowing the seed when the soil 

 is not in condition to work well. Some results of this bad practice 

 have been mentioned in other connections and they are deplorable, 

 especially in the heavier soils. It is especially an error of judgment 

 in seed sowing to suppose that any time can be gained by sowing 

 early upon an unfit seed bed. Even if a fair stand should be secured 

 there will be handicaps upon the plants all through their course, 

 and a somewhat later planting with the soil in good condition will 

 probably surpass them both in .time and quality. 



There is often advantage in soaking seed overnight in tepid 

 water. The lighter the soil and the later the sowing the greater 

 benefit will accrue from this method of hastening germination. 

 When the wet seed is difficult to handle, or when it is to be used 

 with a seed-drill, sift some fine ashes over the seed. This will take 

 up the surface moisture and allow them to run through the drill 

 easily. 



Arranging Moisture Conditions for Germination. In addition 

 to the greater undertakings described in the chapters on irrigation 

 and drainage, there are little acts which are of the utmost import- 

 ance in securing moisture conditions favorable to germination and 

 growth. 



First: Seed covering. Darkness is favorable to germination 

 of most seeds, but covering is primarily for two other purposes. 

 One is to assist the seedling in its anchorage and root penetration, 

 but the more important is to insure it moisture. There can be no 

 positive rule for depth of sowing. Five times the diameter of the 

 seed might do at the best of the season in the best garden soil, but 

 this depth would be too great for some seeds in some soils in the 



