ON SEEDS AND SEED SOWING 



Thus a thinning of the little plants is not to be over- 

 looked. To ''thin out" well one should ascertain the 

 approximate size of the kind of plant under considera- 

 tion, and allow space accordingly. 



In sowing seeds under glass the preparation of the 

 seed pans, pots, or boxes is naturally one of importance ; 

 an efficient drainage of crocks covered with moss or 

 some similar material forms the best foundation, and 

 the box or flower-pot is then filled to the rim with sifted 

 soil, in which sand and leaf mould are freely mixed. 

 Such a compost as this is suitable for raising seeds of 

 almost every kind of greenhouse plant. Flower-pans 

 are better than flower-pots, since they are shallow and 

 the seedlings are more easily removed from them. Boxes 

 are only used for raising plants that are required in large 

 quantities, such, for instance, as Wallflowers, and other 

 favourites. They are more generally used to receive the 

 seedlings than for the sowing of seeds. Care should be 

 taken to fill the pan or pot to the rim with soil, so that 

 when the seedlings are ready for transplanting they may 

 be removed without difficulty. It is not at all an easy 

 matter to take up tiny, fragile seedlings when they are 

 half an inch or more below the rim of the flower-pot. 

 In doing so it is more than likely that the roots will be 

 broken. 



The seedlings are most simply removed with the help 

 of a blunt - pointed stick, which is used by one hand 

 to lift them, while the other gently pulls them out. It 



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