INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 23 



be divided into three distinct sections, and include : (i) Very 

 fine and rich garden soil, crumbly loam, leaf-mould, peat, old 

 hotbed manure, etc. these may form the basis of the compost, 

 and they must be reduced to a powdered state. (2) Sand, sea- 

 sand, road-dust, wood ashes, flue-dust, soot, salt, etc. (3) Super- 

 phosphate, Clay's Fertilizer, bone-meal, guano. This list indi- 

 cates the kind of ingredients that are suited to the purpose ; 

 any or all of them may be used whatever the locality produces 

 and circumstances provide. They must be well mixed Nos. 

 i and 2 in any proportion ; and at intervals during the mixing 

 a slight dusting of No. 3 should be sprinkled over the mass. 

 Any one favourite and suitable chemical manure may be used ; 

 but the bone-meal should not be omitted, for its effects are very 

 beneficial. 



When the mixing has thoroughly and completely taken place, 

 the finished product will prove a valuable asset in the hands 

 of the sower. A drill partly filled with this compost provides 

 a mechanical support wherein the seeds may lodge without 

 any fear of being spoilt ; for the compost, lying lightly and 

 loosely upon the seeds, can, by slight pressure only, be made 

 quite compact, yet admitting light and air, and conserving a 

 sufficiency of moisture to ensure germination. Moreover, the 

 resultant seedlings will have the inestimable advantage of a 

 fine, rich soil, replete with food elements, into which the young 

 rootlets will enter and find a congenial home. These circum- 

 stances will have a marked effect upon the future well-being 

 of the plants, because good initial growth must certainly result 

 in greater stamina and size. Therefore it will be seen how 

 valuable good seed- and seedling-beds are, and the enormous 

 aid a compost such as I have described would afford in this 

 direction. 



Broadcast sowing i.e., scattering the seeds here, there, and 

 everywhere is not to be recommended except for the purpose 

 of snatching a quick crop from a newly-planted or sown Potato, 

 Carrot, or Onion bed by scattering a handful of seeds of Turnip 

 Radishes or Lettuces thereon. Drills are by far the best, not 

 only on the score of neatness, but because the gardener has 

 complete control over the rows of seedlings, and can with 

 greatest ease perform the operations of weeding and thinning. 

 The drills should always be drawn as straight as possible, and 

 in very dry weather or situations, water should be poured along 

 the drills some time previous to sowing the seeds. 



I fail to see the use of estimating the exact quantity of seeds 



