io MARKET NURSERY WORK 



How TO Sow SEEDS 



Pots, pans or boxes, whichever are used for seeds, must be 

 well drained, clean and dry. Half inch to a whole inch of broken 

 pot sherds, according to the depth of the vehicle, make an 

 effective drainage. Over these sherds should be placed an inch 

 or two of coarse sittings from the compost heap as an efficient 

 retainer of the finer soil used in the bulk. (See Fig. i.) All 

 foreign particles, such as wood or stone, should be picked out, 

 for whatever compost is used it should be clean. We lay stress 

 upon the cleanliness of the pots and pans, but we would still 



Fine 

 soil. 



Coarse 

 soil. 



Crocks.- 



FIG. i. Pan Prepared for Seeds. 



more emphasise the need for cleanliness in the soil. It is the 

 medium in which the tenderest things in Nature, the root hairs, 

 have to explore and from which they extract all that goes to 

 sustain the life of the plant. This medium must be pure. 



Having laid this coarser compost over the crocks, the vehicle 

 should be filled level with the prepared compost, and this must 

 be firmed down, first by the fingers, then with a "presser" 

 (see Fig. 2), till its level surface is i inch below the rim. Why 

 with the fingers and then with the " presser " ? Because the 

 fingers penetrate and make firm the lower levels, while the 

 " presser" firms and levels the upper layer only thus we have 

 equal pressure throughout, and this in itself is desirable. 



When filled, stand the vessels upon a level bottom and gently 

 water with a fine rose until the whole of the compost is thoroughly 



