Chapter IX 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



THE importance of having good seeds has al- 

 ready been declared. They must not only 

 grow, but grow into what we have bought 

 them for — be true to name. Without the latter 

 quality we cannot be sure of good gardens, and with- 

 out the former they will not be full ones. A meagre 

 "stand" from seeds properly sown is a rather exas- 

 perating and discouraging experience to encounter. 

 The cost for fertilizing and preparing the land is just 

 as much, and the cost of cultivating very nearly as 

 much, when the rows are full of thrifty plants or 

 strung out with poor ones. Whether you use ten 

 cents' worth or ten dollars' worth, the best seed to be 

 had will be the most economical to buy — to say noth- 

 ing of the satisfaction that full rows give. 



And yet good seedsmen are more thoughtlessly 

 and unjustly abused in the matter of seed vitality 

 than in any other. Inexperienced gardeners seem 

 universally to have the conviction that the only thing 

 required in seed sowing is to cover the seed with 



(92) 



