114 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ness whether it be fruits or flowers. More skill is required to 

 continue a crop of flowers or fruits in productiveness after it has 

 exhaiisted the natural resources of the soil than in bringing it to 

 this condition ; this is the mark of success with some men. It 

 is not my intention here to name one manure above another ; 

 there are a dozen good ones, only some are safer to use than 

 others One of the simplest and best is the dregs from the barn- 

 yard. They contain in a highly concentrated form nearly all the 

 constituents of a complete plant food ; but even this cannot be 

 used unstintingly. Some experience and good judgment will be 

 reqiTired to gauge pro])erly the amount which may be safely used 

 in proportion to clear water. It is well to start with a one-eighth 

 strength and increase it as experience dictates. I have used dry 

 ■Colorado sheep manure, at the rate of a peck to fifty gallons, 

 and this is right to use without fining down. Sulphate of 

 ammonia or nitrate of soda may be used at the rate of one 

 pound to fifty gallons of water ; these are really stimulants and 

 not lasting manures. Their action is quick both of benefit as 

 Avell as injury, aiid an overdose is a terrible trial for one to 

 experience. These should only be used as alternatives. Some of 

 us have used Albert's Horticultural Man\ire, which is an excel- 

 lent article in the hands of a cautious person, but an overdose is 

 awful. I am not skilled in mixing manures; but am satisfied to 

 use one at a time. Liquid manures should be used only on plants 

 making healthy growth, and the drainage must always l)e free. 

 It is very seldom that sick plants will be benefited. 



The sowing of seed, when the quantities are small and often 

 precious, requires some special mention. Here again few 

 gardeners are in accord. In giving my own methods I know I 

 am likely to run counter to many experienced practitioners. Mr. 

 Jackson Dawson, of the Arnold Arboretum, and an old fellow at 

 the Harvard Botanic G-arden, whose name I regret I never 

 knew, could give many of us points on sowing seeds and raising- 

 seedlings ; still some general rules may here be given. 



Sixty degrees Fahrenheit is a good temperature in Avhich to 

 germinate seeds of tender plants coming from semi-tropical 

 regions. Tropical plants recpiire somewhere in the neighborhood 

 of eighty degrees, while seeds of many hardy plants germinate 

 we^l enough at sixty, but for some even this will be too higli. 

 especially for many kinds of clematis and all such as take a long 



