46 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



wretched-looking seeds usually very small, and commonly 

 spotted and wrinkled and these, with the white ones, are 

 very apt to rot in the soil if it is kept too moist or they 

 are set too deeply. For these, then, the cultivator should 

 use a rather lighter soil, with an increased proportion of 

 sand, surface the soil with pure sand, set the seeds not 

 more than a quarter of an inch deep, and cover them with 

 sand. Further than this, the soil should be kept drier than 

 is either necessary or desirabje for the majority of sorts. 

 For all brown and black seeds the depth may be between 

 half an inch and an inch, and the covering-in should always 

 be done with fine soil. Many cultivators chip all seeds 

 prior to sowing, but the practice is rarely necessary. If it 

 is seen that the plants are not showing through the surface 

 within a reasonable time after sowing, the soil should be 

 turned out carefully and the seeds found ; if they are still 

 sound they can be chipped and re-sown ; if they have 

 rotted the matter is ended, and a second sowing must be 

 made forthwith. Although this appears to be more trouble 

 than chipping the skins of all seeds at the outset, it is 

 preferable. In the white-seeded varieties, and also in one 

 or two with black skins, split seeds are comparatively 

 common, and, notwithstanding the care that is taken by 

 seedsmen to pick them out, some will assuredly find their 

 way into the packets. The grower should not give him- 

 self a moment's anxiety about them ; they will simply 



