THE SEED 19 



around their stakes, and carefully put away in the 

 tool-house. 



When seeds are to be planted in a garden bed 

 proceed as follows : Stretch a line across the bed, and, 

 with the hand, open a furrow in the soil along the line, 

 making the furrow of a depth suitable to the kind of 

 seed to be sown, 2 inches deep for large seeds, an inch 

 or less for small ones. Having made one furrow, move 

 the line the required distance, fix it in position, mark 

 out another furrow, and so on. In regulating the 

 distance between the rows it is convenient to have a 

 piece of stick of the same length as the distance the 

 rows are to be apart, and to use this as a measure to 

 mark the new position of the line every time it requires 

 to be moved ; this secures regularity and neatness of 

 work. The furrows being opened, scatter the seeds by 

 the hand along the bottom of each, care being taken to 

 scatter them evenly and not too thickly. When the 

 seeds are in position, gently draw the soil over them, 

 and after they are covered apply a little pressure to 

 render the soil around them firm. 



Pots are sometimes used for sowing seeds in, par- 

 ticularly large seeds. They are also of use when the 

 young plants are to be transferred subsequently to 

 another spot, as, for instance, cucumbers. Pots are pre- 

 pared for seed sowing in the same manner as boxes. 

 In the tropics, pots made of bamboo are frequently 

 used, and are indeed invaluable. They are made from 

 large bamboos by cutting them across with a saw just 

 below each node or joint ; the division or partition found 

 at each joint thus forms the bottom of the pot, and when 



