THE SCOTS GARDENER 



And first by seeds : chuse them from the fairest 

 plants, full ripe, the day fair, and plants dry. Lay 

 them in the sun and open air a little, some for rub- 

 bing out, others for winning in their husks : and, as 

 you should not sow fruits, kernels, nuts or stones, 

 with their fleshy part on, but eat, or rub it off by 

 rolling in sand, and then dry them a little ; so neither 

 wash, weet, nor steep them ; neither keep any longer 

 after they are ripe. Most part of them will keep 

 till spring, but then many will lye till the next, 

 especially stony seeds, berries, and kernells. I do 

 not mean ash, holly, yew, mezerion, hawthorn, &c. 

 which naturally lye a year longer, albeit sowen im- 

 mediately when gathered ; yet even some of these, 

 namely the holly, will lye sometimes a year longer 

 than their usuall time, if the fleshy part be not 

 rubbed off. 



I might say something of the timely interring of 

 tulips and others, but I come to the manner of sow- 

 ing : which is, to cover seed with the mould : of this 

 there are several models, according to the nature 

 of the seed, soil, season or fancy, either to sow the 

 ground and turne the seed in under the furrow or 

 by drawing trenches in the soil, and then drawing 

 the earth over them with a haw ; or sowing the bed, 



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