MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



for the most part, withheld. That the matter, 

 is not without importance, one will understand 

 who finds, year after year, his more delicate 

 seeds failing, and the wild and attentive Irish- 

 man declaring, — 



"And, begorra thin, it 's the ould seed." 

 "But did you sow it properly, Patrick?" 

 "Did n't I, faith? I byried 'em an inch if I 

 byried 'em at all." 



An inch of earth will do for some seeds, 

 but for others, it is an Irish burial — without 

 the wake. 



The conditions of germination are heat, air, 

 and moisture. Covering should not be so 

 shallow as to forego the last, nor so deep as to 

 sacrifice the other essential influences. Heat 

 alone will not do; air and moisture alone will 

 not do. A careful gardener will be guided by the 

 condition of his soil, and the character of his 

 seed. If this have hard woody covering like the 

 seed of the beet, he will understand that it de- 

 mands considerable depth to secure the moist- 

 ure requisite to swell the kernel; or that it 

 should be aided by a steep, before sowing. If, 

 on the other hand, it be a light fleecy seed, like 

 the parsnip, he will perceive the necessity of 

 bringing the earth firmly in contact with it. 

 As a general rule, the depth of covering 



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