1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



241 



tities once more. I found later, however, 

 they were obliged to import it from Eng- 

 land, as it is no longer made in this country. 

 Well, although florists in general do not 

 seem to care for jadoo I can hardly get 

 along without it in the greenhouse, espe- 

 cially for starting seeds. 



I saw by one of the florist's papers the 

 best sand for cuttings may be found where 

 it is washed up or banked up near any 

 stream. If there is a little brook that runs 

 through your lots or woods, you can get just 

 the nicest material in the world for growing 

 cuttings or seeds by following the stream 

 until you find where it has washed up sand 

 or sandy loam to just the right degree of 

 fineness. If you are not near a stream go to 

 some railroad track and gather up the sand 

 the engineer puts on the track to keep the 

 drive-wheels from slipping. I used this in 

 the winter when every thing was frozen up. 

 If you have no jadoo, the next best thing is 

 some old black rotted manure. Find where 

 there is an old abandoned stable, and get 

 the manure or compost that has got to be so 

 old you can run it through a sieve without 

 any trouble. I use three sizes of sieves for 

 sifting my soil for my plants. For growing 

 seeds I would have about half sand and the 

 other half of this rich black compost. Fill 

 your pots, and press the earth down with 

 the bottom of the larger-sized pot so it will 

 be flat and level. If your seeds are black, 

 cover the surface with fine sifted sand, then 

 you can see how to sprinkle them evenly 

 over the surface. The seeds in a three-cent 

 paper will be just about enough to put in a 

 three-inch pot. Some kinds are so cheap, 

 however, you had better not put in all— they 

 will be too thick. As a rule, the little plants 

 should not be nearer than J inch. With the 

 point of a knife you can move the seeds so 

 as to get them about right. You may say 

 this takes lots of time. But if you do it in 

 the long winter evenings the time does not 

 matter so much, and, besides, it is lots of 

 fun— ever so much more fun, in my opinion, 

 than spending time in playing games, be- 

 cause you have something accomplished and 

 something left after you are through besides 

 just the amusement. 



Now, covering the seeds is a very nice 

 point indeed. A little of your sifted sand 

 sifted over them with a tiny sieve will do 

 very well; but I like the jadoo or jadoo and 

 sand together a good deal better. Unless 

 the seeds are large you want only a very 

 slight covering indeed— just enough to get 

 them out of sight so your watering does not 

 wash them all together and get them out of 

 place. Larger seeds, say like sweet peas, 

 can be covered J or J inch. Press down the 

 surface so the top will be flat and level, with 

 the bottom of the same pot you used before. 

 Your potting-soil should be a little moist 

 before commencing. You want it so when 

 you squeeze up a handful it will hang to- 

 gether, but not so wet but that it will crum- 

 ble down when you throw it on the bench. 

 The soil should be just about as you want it 

 to work nicely in the garden. 



After the seeds are planted, put them in 

 this box that holds just 16 pots; or you can 

 put the pots in for that matter, and sow the 

 seeds right in the box. I like better to han- 

 dle the pots separately. To keep the name 

 of each kind, wet the pot and write the 

 name with an indelible pencil. You need 

 write only enough of the name so you will 

 "catch on." Your catalog and labels will 

 give you the full name, description, etc. 



After your seeds are sown, the pots should 

 be pretty well soaked with water, and you 

 can not do this with a watering-pot without 

 making mischief ; but by spreading a thin 

 cloth, something like a pocket handkerchief, 

 over the whole boxful you can then use your 

 sprinkler without doing harm. Some writ- 

 ers suggest dipping the pots in water until 

 the water rises just above the surface. But 

 this takes too much time— that is, if you are 

 so careful as not to wash out the seeds, and 

 I think it makes the soil too wet, especially 

 if it is partly jadoo or our black compost. 

 After wetting, put on your pane of glass 

 and set your box where it is a little warm, 

 and dark. You can keep the whole box in 

 darkness until you see some seeds coming 

 through the ground, then you want to put 

 them where it is as light as possible, but not 

 in the direct rays of the sun, especially in 

 the middle of the day. You do not want to 

 bake the ground around the little plants, 

 and at the same time you do not want to 

 keep watering them all the while. Water 

 once in two or three days should be enough, 

 and will be if you keep them in the shade 

 when the sun is shining direct. 



Now, I never enjoyed any thing in green- 

 house work much more than seeing these lit- 

 tle plants come up. Some seeds will come up 

 in three or four days; others may take three 

 or four weeks. The Tom Thumb nastur- 

 tiums come up about the quickest; the same 

 with others of the tropasolum family. My 

 tropaeolums got to be so large that I have 

 just transplanted them into Ij^-inch pots. 



I would by all means have some little 

 flower-pots. The smallest are only 30 cents 

 a hundred, and still less by the thousand. 

 Just think of it— three pots for a cent! The 

 next size larger costs only a trifle more. I 

 will tell you why I recommend these little 

 pots. When some little girl or boy comes 

 to your house show him your plants, ex- 

 plaining how they grow. Knock out the 

 soil, which is easily done when you have 

 learned how, and show your visitor the tiny 

 roots. The little white roots that run 

 around the sides of the pot, in contrast with 

 the black compost of jadoo make a very 

 pretty and interesting sight. It will capti- 

 vate almost any child; and then when you 

 have a lot of plants just make that boy a 

 present to take home for his "very 

 own. ' ' 



Many plants can be made to blossom in 

 these smallest-sized pots; and this is especial- 

 ly easy if you take off cuttings or slips and 

 grow them in these little pots. The box I 

 have described for three-inch pots is just 

 what you want for a cutting-bed. Put some 



