SEEDS AND SEED KAISIXG. 95 



a hundred of the Cabbage started in the strips where the 

 soil was left loose. 



In the sowing of Cauliflower, Cabbage, or Lettuce in 

 September, the same precaution had better be used. 

 But in small beds, such as are usually taken for these, if 

 a roller is not at hand, after raking the beds the soil 

 should be firmly patted with the back of the spade ; this 

 not only produces quicker and more certain germination, 

 but it leaves the surface of the bed smooth, so that the 

 plants come up straighter than if the beds were left 

 rough. We consider the practice of soaking seeds worse 

 than useless. For fuller instructions on this, one of 

 the most important of all garden operations, see Chapter 

 on the "Use of the Feet in Sowing and Planting." 

 The greater part of this chapter has been already pub- 

 lished in my book, entitled "How the Farm Pays," as 

 well as portions of it in some of our seed catalogues. 

 Believing it is of vital importance, I think it cannot 

 be too often repeated. I have been writing on Horti- 

 culture for nearly forty years, but I consider that I have 

 benefited the farmers and gardeners of the United States 

 more by the instructions given in the " Use of the Feet 

 in Sowing and Planting," than by any other article I 

 have ever written. 



