Part I. ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED. 63 



It is a pleasant thing to sow tlie seeds of novel or rare plants ; 

 indeed, to the real lover of a garden, it is more congenial work 

 than cutting the flowers when arrived at perfection ; and 

 every lover of plants enjoys more or less flowers " of my own 

 raising." Well, before opening the seed packets, it is necessary 

 to have clearly written wooden' labels at hand on which to write 

 the name of each species, so that there may be no confusion 

 when the plants come up. These labels should be about eight 

 or nine inches long, and an inch wide, and the name should be 

 written as near the upper end as possible, so that it may not 

 be soon obliterated by contact with the moist earth. Now, this 

 labelling process is usually performed in all such cases at the 

 time of sowing the seeds, but a very much speedier and better 

 way is to lay out all the seeds on a table some wet day when 

 out-of-door work cannot be done, and there and then arrange 

 them in the order of sowing. Write a label for each kind, 

 tie the packet of seeds up with a piece of matting, and then, 

 when a fine day arrives for sowing them, it can be done in a 

 very short time. In sowing, put in at the end of the first little 

 drill the label of the kind to be sown first, then sow the seed, 

 inserting the label for the following kind at the spot to which the 

 seed of the first has reached, and so on. Thus there can be no 

 doubt as to the name of a species when the same plan is pursued 

 throughout. Near at hand, during the sowing, should be placed 

 a barrow of finely sifted earth ; with this the seeds should be 

 covered more or less heavily according to size, and then well 

 watered from a very fine rose. Minute seed like that of Cam- 

 panula will require but a mere dust of the sifted earth to cover it. 



Once sown, the rest may be left to nature, save and except 

 the keeping down of weeds, the seeds of which abound in the 

 earth in all places, and wiU be pretty sure to come up among 

 the young plants. But these being in drills, we can easily tell 

 the plant from the weed, and nothing is required but a little per- 

 severing weeding. In these little beds the finest perennials will 

 come up beautifully, and may be left exactly where sown till the 

 time arrives for transplanting them to the rockery, spring garden, 

 or mixed border. This is a better way than sowing in pots, 

 where they are liable to much vicissitude, and from which they 

 require to be " potted off." Of course in the case of a very rare 

 or admired kind, the seedlings might be thinned a little and the 

 thinnings dibbled into a nursery bed, but by sowing rather thinly 



