134 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



course, in a working greenhouse, as it is not ornamental and 

 is then always ready to take in a pot of cuttings or of 

 seed, and is invaluable all the year round. Seed-sowing is 

 not merely a springtide occupation. In almost every case 

 seeds vegetate more surely and freely when they are sown as 

 soon as ripe, though some are benefited by a short time of 

 waiting to harden and consolidate. The seeds of Primulas, 

 Anemones, Gentians, and many other plants will germinate 

 at once if sown as soon as they are gathered, but if they 

 are held over till the spring a few may come up, but it is 

 quite possible that there may be no crop of seedlings until 

 the following year not because the seed is bad, but because 

 the vitality is in some degree lowered. For this reason, it is 

 not wise to discard any pan containing valuable seed, without 

 giving it the chance of germinating the following year. This 

 may seem a formidable trial of patience, but I have done 

 it many times and with success. Seeds should, therefore, be 

 not only collected, but sown, as soon as they are fit. Another 

 point to remember is that seeds can scarcely be sown too 

 thinly. It is much better to have a few strong plants than 

 dozens of spindlings elbowing themselves out of the seed-pan 

 and driving the raiser distracted trom inability to .cope with 

 them. Nature is prodigal in the matter of seed-sowing, but 

 she thoroughly understands the principle of the survival of 

 the fittest, and prepares for it in her seemingly rough and 

 ready way. Under cultivation, lavishness of this kind is 

 mere waste of life. Nothing is more fascinating than to 

 watch the germination and progress of seedlings, from the 

 unfolding of the cotyledons, through the processes of pricking- 

 out and shifting into pots of graduated size, until, after due 

 education in the way of training and trimming into shape, 

 they grow into fine specimen plants. The same may be 

 said of cuttings. The little slip that one begs of a kindly 

 neighbour and which responds to care by rooting and 



