134 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



have the seed as fresh as possible; and the third, soil and situation 

 to plant in ; the fourth is to know what depth to plant the seed and 

 how long to wait for the seed to come up. In this sort of paper it is 

 hard to give many details/ so that I will touch on the most hardy 

 of the different genera and leave the varieties for another time. 



Soil and Situation. 



In selecting a place for seed beds the soil should be a deep rich 

 mellow loam, avoiding gravelly soils or heavy clay. The soil should 

 be well manured with good rotten manure, a year old, then ploughed 

 or trenched twelve to fifteen inches deep, and well pulverized. 

 All coarse stones and rubbish should be cleaned off so as to have the 

 land in the best possible condition. If the land is full of weeds 

 it would be well to manure heavily and plant one year with stock 

 that will be well cultivated. Nothing tries one's patience more 

 than to try to grow seedlings in a soil that is full of weed seed. 

 If possible the land should be sheltered from the north and west by 

 fence or hedge. If the seed is to be sown broadcast I should lay 

 out the beds five feet apart with a pathway two and one-half feet 

 between the beds. This will give ample room to weed the beds 

 from each side. If sown broadcast rake the beds smooth and sow 

 evenly and thinly over the surface. If the seed is fine, raking it in 

 with a coarse rake and rolling it lightly will be sufficient. If the 

 seed is large it should be covered about its own diameter. Person- 

 ally I prefer to sow in rows eight inches apart across the bed, espe- 

 cially if there is a large number of varieties and only a few of each 

 wanted; or in long nursery rows eighteen inches apart, if to be 

 worked by hand; or from two to three feet if to be cultivated by 

 horse power. One reason why I prefer the rows to broadcast is 

 because they are much easier to cultivate. 



Seed should never be sown when the ground is wet. The soil at 

 the time of sowing should be neither wet nor dry, but in such a 

 condition that it can be raked without clogging. If it is too wet 

 many fine seed will scarcely come through, while if too dry the seed 

 is apt to work out unless covered deeper than desired. 

 ' A supply of water should be at hand ready to be used on all 



