CHAPTER X. 
THE PLANTING OF THE SEED. 
Seed planting in winter is quite the same operation as in 
summer, and the same rule holds good, to wit: the smaller 
the seed the nearer the surface. Many seeds are perfectly 
hardy, while others lose their vitality when sown in cold or 
wet soil. In the modern greenhouse seeds may be planted 
in mid-winter, or at any other season of the year. 
Lettuce, radish, cauliflower, beet, water cress, &c., may 
be sown (with heat) whenever it suits the convenience of the 
gardener, at intervals through the winter ;.and there are no 
rigidly fixed dates for planting the seeds of beans or melons. 
Tomatoes and cucumbers, being crops of prominence 
and of long duration, are started, we may say, in mid-sum- 
mer, and again near mid-winter. 
Parsley, spinach, carrot, cabbage, corn salad, endive and 
pansy have fixed planting dates, to meet special markets. 
Mushrooms are grown from spawn (to be had of the 
seedsmen). Onions are mostly raised from bulbs, except 
where the seed is sown in spring under glass for transplanting 
to the outside beds. Potatoes are multiplied exclusively 
from tubers. 
Asparagus, rhubarb, daisy, mint, and violets are grown 
from roots for the most part. 
Another classification of the winter crops enumerated in 
this book may be made as follows: 
Grown without heat : Spinach, cabbage plants for spring, 
corn salad, endive, onion, daisy, pansy, violet. Grown with 
heat: Tomato, cucumber, cauliflower, beans, melon, mush- 
rooms, potato. Grown both ways: Lettuce, radish, parsley, 
beets, water cress, carrots, rhubarb, asparagus, mint. 
The starting point, in all cases, is in reliable seeds, 
roots, &c. The planting of the seeds and their subsequent 
care is a matter requiring intelligent and continued effort. 
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