352 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



Provided a minimum temperature of 55 or 60 can be main- 

 tained, the raising of a satisfactory batch of tomato seedlings is 

 a comparatively simple matter. 



Let the cultivator first of all decide how many plants he intends 

 to grow. This will depend principally upon the size of his glass- 

 house and also on whether he intends to grow any of his plants 

 out of doors. As a rule one fair-sized seed-pan or shallow box 

 will hold enough seeds to provide the amateur whose space is 

 limited with as many plants as he wants. 



It is immaterial whether pots, boxes or shallow seed-pans are 

 used, but it is essential that they should be clean Nothing is 

 more conducive to failure than to use dirty receptacles for young 

 and tender seedlings. Therefore see that all pans, pots and 

 crocks are well scrubbed in warm water before being brought into 

 use. In the case of new pans or pots it is advisable to soak them 

 for a few hours in clean water. If this precaution be neglected 

 the porous pottery will absorb all the moisture in the soil and 

 leave it dry just at a time when germination is at hand. The 

 results can only be disastrous. 



The soil in which it is intended to sow the seed must on no 

 account be rich and this is a rule to follow throughout all the 

 earlier stages of the young tomato plant's growth. If a quantity 

 of fresh loam and the best kind is that known as " top spit," 

 taken from beneath some old turf be mixed with an equal 

 quantity of coarse river sand, an ideal compost will be obtained. 



The pots should be filled with soil to within an inch of the top. 

 The seed of the tomato is fairly large, and is easily handled. It 

 should be sown thinly ten or a dozen seeds to a five-inch pot 

 and be gently pressed into the soil with the forefinger. The soil 

 can then be drawn over the seed, and an application of tepid water 

 follow. 



To ensure rapid germination a minimum temperature of 55 

 or 60 is essential, and in order the better to ensure this 

 it is advisable to place the pots or seed-pans in a small pro- 

 pagating case. This may be the ordinary propagator, whose 

 heat is conserved by a simple but reliable oil lamp, or, better 



