18 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



vent the wind separating the seed from the soil, which will 

 happen sometimes without this precaution. If the soil he 

 damp nothing more is required than lightly covering the 

 seed by raking the soil over them. 



The depth required for seeds depend on the size ; some 

 are so minute that to cover them they would never come up, 

 probably rot, while some would lie dormant for years, until 

 turned up to near the surface, and then germinate. In 

 sowing seeds they should be watered sparingly, for if the 

 seeds be old, which is often the case, you will rot them ; 

 therefore it is necessary to be cautious in the use of that 

 clement To water seed often with the view to make them 

 come up quick, which is often done, is not judicious ; it is 

 the best, generally, that is the longest in germinating ; we 

 find this to be the case with the Auricula, and most 

 double varieties, the Balsam for instance. The first and 

 early seeds that germinate are the strongest, however desir- 

 able at the time, generally prove the most indifferent, flow- 

 ers, and in most cases single. Those that have been in the 

 habit of sowing and raising seedlings must observe this, and 

 vill give their friends the best and strongest plants. There 

 does not appear so much advantage gained in early sowing 

 of garden flower seeds as is attributed to it, for those sown 

 the middle of March will flower about the same time as 

 those sown two weeks earlier, unless forced and kept in the 

 hot-bed ; those sown early in the open ground are often <>ut 

 ofF in the seed leaf by the early frost, which is the most 

 precarious time for seedlings. 



There are many annuals that do best if the seed be sown 

 in the fall and slightly protected through the winter, such 

 as Phlox Drummondii, Rocket Larkspur, Flos Adonis, 



