CO OPERATIONS OF GARDENING. PART I. 



and leaf-mould. If the seeds remain long before they germ- 

 inate, the charcoal will have the tendency to keep the soil from 

 becoming green and sour, as it so often does from continued 

 watering. 



It is laid down as a rule by some of the best gardeners in 

 this country, as well as elsewhere, that seeds should always be 

 sown in what is called a "dry bed." Mr. E. Scott at the 

 Calcutta Botanical Gardens used, during the hot months, to 

 lay up under a shed, and sheltered from wet, a store of dry 

 earth, that he might have it, as he said, in a perfectly dry state 

 on all occasions for his sowings. Mr. J. Newman, Superintendent 

 of the Botanical Gardens at the Mauritius, says : 



" I find that all seeds, particularly those that have come a long 

 voyage, ought to be sown in moist, but not wet earth, and not 

 watered for three days after sowing. In wet weather it is advisable 

 to have matting to cover the seed-beds until the plants have 

 appeared aboveground, when they may be watered as usual. By 

 this simple precaution even many old seeds will vegetate ; whereas 

 seeds sown in wet earth, or watered immediately, frequently rot, 

 by having so much water at first. I have tried seeds from the 

 same packet in a dry place and a wet one at the same time, and it 

 requires only one trial to prove the superiority of the former."* 



This certainly does not accord with what has been my own 

 experience; nor in the North- Western Provinces would it be 

 altogether practicable, on account of the dryness of the climate, 

 and of the light surface-soil, with the seeds in it, being liable to 

 be blown away by the wind. The practice, which I have found 

 uniformly attended with success, has always been, except when 

 moist enough not to need it, to drench the soil immediately 

 previous to the sowing. 



I should certainly hesitate, however, in recommending this 

 practice had I not the sanction of those whose opinions on such 

 a matter ought to have far greater weight than my own. Mr. 

 E. Eoss, formerly head gardener of the Botanical Gardens, 

 says in his directions for the sowing of seeds : " When sown, 

 give a little water, with the fine rose of a watering pot : 

 afterwards keep damp, but not wet."t And Mr. M'Meekin, 

 formerly head gardener of the Agri-Horticultural Society, 



* ' Transactions of the Agri-Hort. Society/ vol. ii. p. 76. 

 f 'Journal of the Agri-Hort. Society,' vol. v. p. 1. 



