23* PBCULIAK MODES OF SOWING. 



■ were sown in the peat: when they reqiiired to be lifted, _the roots 

 brought a ball of peat along with them, which I think was very bene- 

 ficial to the plants, in keeping the roots moist after they were planted 

 in the ground where they were to remain. It may not be necessary to 

 sow at aU times in such a soil ; but I believe that a garden would be 

 none the worse in having a few square yards of well-broken peat for 

 sowing some kinds of seeds upon, as occasion might require," — Peter 

 Mackenzie, in the Gardener^ Chronicle, 



In all oases it is useful to sow seeds on fibrous matter of some kind 

 when they have to be transplanted. Mr. Knight used chopped hay ; 

 others use broken horse-droppings, the object in every case being to 

 give tiie seedlings something in which their roots may be entangled 

 at the time of transplantation, so as to remove without injury. 



OtTier expedients have occasionally been had recourse to 

 successfully. Where seeds are enclosed in a very hard dry 

 shell, it is usually necessary to file it thin, so as to permit the 

 emhryo to hurst through its integuments when it has begun to 

 swell. Under natural circumstances, indeed, no such operation 

 is practised : but it is to be remembered that such seeds will 

 have fallen to the ground as soon as ripe, and before their 

 shell acquired the bony hardness that we find after they have 

 become dry. 



Sometimes it has been found useful to immerse seeds in 

 tepid water until signs of germination manifest themselves, and 

 then to transfer them to earth; but this process cannot be 

 applied with advantage to seeds in an unhealthy state ; and it 

 Is only of use to healthy seeds, by accelerating the time of 

 growth, a practice which may, in out- door crops, be desirable 

 when applied to seeds which, like the Beet, the Carrot, or the 

 Parsnip, will, in dry seasons, lie so long in the ground without 

 germinating that they become a prey to birds or other animals. 



During the spring months, seed sowing is very apt to get into arrear. 

 When such is the case, a fortnight maybe recovered by having recourse 

 to the steeping process, and it is always a safe plan during the pre- 

 valence of drought. There is sometimes moisture in the ground suffi- 

 cient to induce the first stage of 'germination, yet by the time that is 

 accomplished, and before the tender Tadiole has extended beyond the 

 j?eaoh of accident, drought has Overtaken it. But in aU cases if a seed 

 is on iki& eve of germination, previous to its insertion in the bqU, and if 

 the soil is fresh dug, the yonng plant will in general establish itself in 



