CHAPTER XII. 



HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE TO SOW SEEDS, 



As seed sowing is the starting point of cropping, a 

 thorough knowledge of the conditions necessary for the 

 germination of the different varieties, will go far towards 

 putting the tyro in gardening well on the way to success. 

 The very general want of knowledge in this matter is too 

 often the cause of much undeserved censure upon the 

 seedsman, for in nine cases out of ten the failure is not 

 with the seeds, but results from the time or manner of 

 planting. When the owner of a garden sends his order for 

 seeds to the seedsman, it is generally a complete list of all 

 he wants for the season. They are received, and the in- 

 teresting operation of sowing is begun: first in a hot 

 bed, if he has one, often as early as the first week in Feb 

 ruary, (a month too soon by the way), and in go indis 

 criininately, at the same date, and under the same sash 

 his seeds of Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, and Egg Plant, 

 Peppers and Tomatoes. Yet even in the waning heat of 

 this early hot-bed, where a thermometer would possibly 

 not indicate more than fifty degrees, he finds in a week or so 

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