Seeds 57 



thirty feet away had sent out fuzzy fibrous roots that had made 

 a dozen laps up and down the mellow soil, and out of each 

 small cold frame I took at least half a bushel of gluttonous 

 roots that had robbed the earth of moisture. Having made 

 repeated trials both of hotbeds and cold frames, from which 

 I never got one third the plants I should have had, I decided 

 to make an experiment of my own. Unless seedlings are 

 grown in the open, they are apt to "damp off," a condition 

 where too much heat or moisture weakens the growth, and 

 without warning the stem decays and the little plant dies. I 

 chose a sheltered spot half-way up a bank, remote from trees, 

 facing the east in order to get shade from the afternoon sun 

 und protection from the northwest winter wind, and here I 

 prepared an ordinary bed, without bottom heat or manure, 

 the soil being first a layer of grass sods turned root-side up, 

 then a mixture a foot deep of loam, leaf mold, wood ashes 

 and much sand, which is reserved for a seed-bed and nursery. 

 Now some people advise planting perennial seeds in Au- 

 gust; but in northern latitudes many of these seeds take a 

 month or more to germinate, and there is not sufficient time 

 before winter sets in to make a stocky growth that will with- 

 stand extreme cold. Then, too, the vital forces are stronger in 

 spring; there is greater probability of moisture than in August; 

 and a seedling that has achieved six months of vigorous growth 

 the first year is better prepared for its active duties the second. 

 For these reasons I now plant seeds of perennials early in 

 May, so that they may have the whole summer for growth. 

 Seeds then may take their own time to germinate, a few days, 

 weeks, or even a year, if necessary, without the need of dis- 

 turbing the bed to rout out grubworms or invading roots. If 

 at all crowded, when large enough, the seedlings are sepa- 

 rated and reset in the other end of the bed; otherwise, they are 

 allowed to remain where they are until they attain a blooming 



