10 THE NURSERY-BOOK. 



constantly to the soil. Even in this case it is necessary to pre- 

 vent soaking the moss too thoroughly, especially with very weak 

 seeds. When many pots are required, they may be simply 

 plunged in moss with the same effect. The soil should be 

 simply very slightly moist, never wet. Moisture is sometimes 

 supplied by setting the seed-pot in a shallow saucer of water, or 

 it may be sufficient to simply place it in the humid atmosphere of 

 a propagating-box. Large seeds may be laid upon the surface 

 of the soil in a half-filled pot, covered with thin muslin, and 

 then covered with loose and damp loam. Every day the pot 

 is inverted, the covering taken off and fresh soil is added. A 

 modification of this plan for small seeds can be made by placing 

 the seeds between two layers of thin muslin and inserting them 

 in damp loam, which is frequently renewed to avoid the ex- 

 tremes which would result from watering or from allowing the 

 soil to become dry. In these last operations, no water is applied 

 to the seeds and they constitute one of the most satisfactory 

 methods of dealing with seeds of low vitality. They are essen- 

 tially the methods long ago used by Knight, who laid such seeds 

 between two sods cut from an old and dry pasture. 



Even sound and strong seeds should be watered with care. 

 Drenchings usually weaken or destroy them. The earth should 

 be kept simply damp. To insure comparative dryness in in-door 

 culture, some loose material, as pieces of broken pots or 

 clinkers, should be placed in the bottom of the pot or box to 

 afford drainage. It should be borne in mind, however, that the 

 seed bed should be approximately equally moist throughout its 

 depth. .The.* waterings/ sjhOi>M', ttterefore be copious enough to 

 moisten th scnl throughout. " A* wet or moist surface over a dry 

 substraturn, sjiowl^. .always *be/. avoided. Error is common 

 here. .V2Uis,7isuajfy.l9esl fib. appl'y** water with a watering-pot, as 

 watering with a hose is apt to wash out the seeds and to pack 

 the soil, and the quantity of water is not so easily regulated. 



At first thought, it would appear that the apparently good 

 results following soaking of seeds in many cases, are a contra- 

 diction of these statements that seeds may be over-watered. But 

 soaking is usually beneficial only when practiced for a compara- 



