23i'4l DIRECT SOWING. 



too abundant, be thoroughly worked into the soil below. If the 

 soil is sour, it should be turned up deep and freely aerated. 

 Where insects are abundant, the more open and sunny and suitable 

 for their breeding the locality is, the lighter must the soil be 

 worked. The care with which the soil should be prepared will be 

 proportionate to the delicate and exacting nature of the species. 



The best time for preparing the soil for summer sowing, where 

 snow does not lie or there are no winter rains, is the season follow- 

 ing the close of the summer rains, the soil being then still 

 moist and yielding and as much time as possible being given for 

 the play of beneficial atmospheric influences. Otherwise the work 

 must be done in early spring. For autumn sowings, which are 

 confined mainly to the Himalayan region, the soil must be pre- 

 pared in September — October, soon after the S. W. monsoon rains 

 are over. 



When the seeds have been sown, they are exposed either to 

 be (i) blown away by the wind, or (ii) washed away by rain, or 

 (iii) devoured by animals, or (iv) rot from excessive or stagnant 

 moisture, or (v) to undergo fermentation, or (vi) be killed, or at 

 least badly injured, especially when the process of germination has 

 already begun, by heat, frost or drought. 



One of the most effective precautions to take against these va- 

 rious risks is to bury the seeds to the right depth in a clean, 

 sufficiently loosened soil. The maximum depth of sovdng is ri- 

 gorously fixed by the length of stem between the root coUum of 

 the seedlings and the first pair or group of leaves, which, when 

 germination is complete, should-stand clear of the soil. Between 

 this maximum depth and the mere scattering of the seeds over the 

 surface of the ground, the various depths of sowing will be deter- 

 mined by the imminence and potency of the risks enumerated 

 above and by the following additional considerations ; — the size of 

 the seeds, the time they take to sprout, their exacting nature as 

 regards the conditions necessary for gemination, the ease with 

 which, in epigeal germination, the cotyledons burst forth and leave 

 the seed cap, the delicate or hardy constitution of the region of 

 the root coUumn in the young seedling, and the stiflhess and 

 hygroscopicity of the soil. Thus, the stiffer the soil is, the shal- 

 lower ought to be the sowing in order to secure sufficient aeration 

 for the seeds and the newly developing radicle ; the greater the 

 likehood of frequent breaks of dry weather occurring during the 

 process of germination, the deeper must the seeds be buried ; and 

 so on. 



