126 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



rainy season, and far too shallow for the same seed and soil in the 

 dry season. On all soils the rule must be shallow sowing, if large 

 rainfall is characteristic of the region ; deep sowing if scant rainfall 

 is to be expected ; shallow sowing early in the rainy season ; deep 

 sowing near its close ; shallow sowing on the heavier soils ; deep 

 sowing on the lighter soils. Late in the season the surface layer 

 which is air dried in spite of stirring, does not count as depth at all. 

 It must be brushed aside and the seed sown in the moist layer 

 beneath whether the sowing is done by hand or with a seed drill. 

 Later cultivation will level the soil back around the plant stem to 

 assist in retaining moisture below. Conforming to this condition, 

 the larger summer-sown seeds should be sown in the light soil of 

 the interior valleys at four to six inches deep twice or three times 

 the depth prescribed for the seed in humid climates or in the humid 

 side of our own climate. Seeds sown in hills can stand deep plant- 

 ing better than when sown singly, as they seem to join their strength 

 in uplifting the weight of soil above them. 



Second : Soil firming. This is another act which aids the seed 

 in other ways, but is primarily for moisture furnishing. A seed 

 thrown into a loose surface layer may germinate and perish for 

 lack of moisture and soil-contact or it may lie unquickened until a 

 footstep or a shower compacts the earth about it. It may thus lie 

 half a year in California. Many amateurs are much too kind in 

 their intent and too cruel in their method, by making the surface as 

 loose as possible and then gently placing the seed in the loose layer. 

 It is better to jump on it with both feet. Whether it be done by 

 direct tramping or by tramping a narrow board placed upon the 

 sown row, or tamped down with a block with a long handle, or by 

 using the garden or field roller, or by flat slaps with the back of the 

 planting hoe, it matters not; it is only essential that the firming of 

 the inclosing layer should be given unless immediate water settling 

 of the ground is anticipated. And this firming is conditioned in 

 degree upon soil and season just as depth of covering is, viz. : light 

 soil or late in season, heaviest firming; heavier soil or early in 

 season, lighter firming. The reason for firming is the restoration 

 of capillarity to the loose layer, consequently adequate moisture 

 supply to the germinating seed. But when this capillarity has served 

 its purpose and the root has penetrated the permanently moist layers 

 below, this capillarity must be destroyed by cultivation and the 

 surface layer again loosened so that it will not transmit moisture. 



