Growing Flowers 173 



often is not covered at all, but scattered lightly- 

 over the surface of the earth. One very good 

 way of planting fine seed is to put the seed in a 

 sifter with four times as much very fine soil as seed 

 and sift seed and soil over the spot where the 

 plants are to grow. 



The ground should be thoroughly warm when plant- 

 ing seed for producing seed plants. If the ground is 

 at all chilled, the seed produced from the plants 

 being started will not yield a good crop of flowers. 



Seed should be well watered immediately after 

 planting. A very fine nozzle or a bulb syringe 

 should be used in order not to wash up the small 

 seed. 



Growing plants for seed is an art. Flowers should 

 never be considered, but every flower produced 

 looked at with a view to the seed. Only a few 

 flowers should be allowed to mature on each plant 

 so that the nourishment may be conserved. A 

 plant bearing many blossoms will produce poor seed. 



Seeds require warmth, moisture, and air in order 

 to germinate. 



Seed should be planted in soil with good drainage. 

 If too much moisture is allowed seed, it will rot 



