108 PRACTICAL FLOKICULTURE. 



April or May, and by cramping the plants in shallow 

 boxes and rather poor soil, we can hold them so that they 

 are none too large for winter work. On the other hand, 

 if we attempt to germinate Portulacas, Balsams, Ama- 

 ranths, Zinnias, or other plants of tropical origin, in the 

 medium temperature of fifty degrees, they will either re- 

 main dormant until a higher temperature occurs, or 

 perish. Ignorance of, or inattention to, these conditions 

 is far oftener the cause of failure than want of vitality 

 in seeds. 



Whether seeds are sown in the open border, in the 

 window garden of the parlor, in the hot-bed, or green- 

 house, the same conditions should be observed, so far as 

 practicable. In the open border there is not always a 

 choice of soil, but if soil is to be prepared, let it be of a 

 light nature ; leaf-mould from the woods, and well- 

 pulverized muck from the swamps, or, better than either 

 of these, the dust of cocoanut fibre, or of decayed, refuse 

 hops, are excellent to sift on as a covering for seeds. We 

 have employed these latter materials exclusively, as a 

 covering for seeds of all kinds, for many years, with re- 

 sults which have been vastly superior to those we had 

 when we did not use them. 



It must be borne in mind that seeds do not so much 

 need a fertile soil at first, as they do one having the neces- 

 sary mechanical condition ; this is found exactly in the 

 light, moisture-retaining nature of hop-mould or cocoa- 

 nut dust. We can give no better rule than the old one 

 of covering seeds to about their own depth with mould, 

 although something depends on the weight of the mate- 

 rial with which they are covered. One-fourth of an inch 

 in depth of hop-mould, or leaf-mould, would be no more 

 than equivalent to half that depth of ordinary loam ; 

 hence the advantage in using it, as it gives the seed a 

 moist, springy covering, through which the tiny germ 

 can freely push. 



