SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS 



bank uses about one-half clean, rather coarse, 

 sharp sand, and about forty per cent of good 

 pasture or forest soil, preferably that containing 

 more or less leaf mold. To this it is desirable to 

 add from five to ten per cent finely powdered moss 

 or peat. These ingredients are intimately mixed, 

 with the addition of about one or two per cent of 

 fine-ground bone meal or superphosphate, obtain- 

 able from any dealer in gardener's supplies. 



This mixture makes a soil in which seeds of 

 almost any kind of plant from any part of the 

 world will germinate, and in which the seedlings 

 will thrive until they are ready for transplanting. 



Mr. Burbank recommends that soil of this kind, 

 after being once used, shall not be thrown away, 

 but shall be retained for mixture with new soil 

 prepared in a succeeding season. He always 

 keeps a little of the old soil on hand for this 

 purpose. 



If very choice seeds are to be grown, the soil, 

 new or old, is sterilized by thorough scalding to 

 destroy bacterial or fungus or insect pests. 



Before filling the boxes with soil, it is well to 

 scatter coarse gravel over the bottom to a depth 

 of from one-quarter to a half inch. Use gravel 

 that will just pass through a half -inch mesh, or 

 a little smaller. This insures perfect drainage 

 and sufficient aeration, both of which are of the 

 utmost importance. 



Then fill the box with the prepared soil to 

 within about an inch of the top. 



When cool damp weather is to be expected, and 

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