130 THE SEED-GROWER. 
WHAT IS THE PROPER TIME FOR SOWING 
OUT OF DOORS IN SPRING? 
As the seasons vary and differ according to the cli- 
mate or the locality, one’s own experience or that of 
some successful neighbor is the best guide for planting 
that can be suggested. A safe rule for the hardiest 
varieties is to sow as soon as the ground is entirely 
free from frost and can be made in condition. This 
may mean in some of the extreme Southern States Jan- 
uary or February; in some warmer sections of the 
Northern States, the latter part of March or 1st of April; 
in colder sections not before the 20th or 25th of April 
or May 1st. In the Middle States (and some such 
rule will apply everywhere) it is pursued by many 
gardeners by observing nature, such as the leafing of the 
early shrubs and trees, the blossoming of the early wild 
flowers and fruit trees. 
Cabbage, lettuce, onion sets, parsley, peas, radish, 
salsify, spinach and turnip are sown in Southeastern 
Pennsylvania when the violet and the arbutus, the 
peach, cherry and pear are in full bloom, or the maple 
and horse chestnut in one inch leaf, which is gener- 
ally from April 18th to 25th, depending on the earliness 
or lateness of the season. Sowing of the less hardy 
varieties, such as beans, beet, carrot, celery, cucumber, 
kale, okra, onion and parsnip, is made a week or so 
later, when the apple is in blossom, or the oak (a late 
tree) is in one inch leaf, which is from May Ist to 5th. 
Corn, melon and squash are planted when all danger 
from frost is past, or when the catalpa and blackberry 
are in bloom, from May 15th to 20th. 
The following table for a period of ten years taken 
from a record kept for twenty years by the writer, shows 
the season or the average time when blossoming and 
