36 Gardening Under Glass 



The First Thing Is the Importance of the "Make 

 Ready''' 



The first thing I learned was that the most 

 important part of the work of growing plants 

 from seed is done before you touch the seed. 

 It is in the "make ready" that success or failure 

 lies in nine cases out of ten. 



Now, a seed is one of the most wonderful pieces 

 of mechanism ever devised. Compared to a 

 seed, the most ingenuous time-bomb ever put 

 together is a crude, clumsy affair. Think of it! 

 In a spherical shell, so small in many cases as to 

 be almost microscopical, is stored material which 

 is capable of exploding the shell when the proper 

 conditions arise, a week, a month, or years later; 

 and not merely that, but also of feeding the deli- 

 cate living organism produced until it can sup- 

 port itself, in its own wonderful way, from the soil. 



So, when you stop to think of it, the wonder 

 is not that there are some failures in getting seeds 

 to grow, but that there are any successes. The 

 mere physical feat performed by the tiny sprout 

 in forcing its way up through what, in compari- 

 son to its size, is a gigantic layer of stones and 

 soil, should make it obvious that only favorable 

 conditions can bring success. 



The favorable conditions, of course, are mois- 



