PLANTING AND SEED GROWING 



Great care should be exercised in setting out plants. Many choice things 

 are lost by not being planted firmly in the ground. Do not put out plants when 

 the soil is too wet, or it will pack; it should be mellow and crumbly. The 

 roots of plants should be spread carefully if without soil ; if balled, they should 

 be loosened a little around the ball to induce them to grow outward. After 

 pulverizing the soil around the plant, press it firmly with the foot, after which 

 water thoroughly and deep. When the water has settled around the plant 

 cover with dry soil. Watch it very carefully until well established, and see 

 that the soil does not become porous through evaporation, and the air dry up 

 the roots. Small plants should be carefully shaded until well established. 

 When plants from pots are set in the ground, the outer roots should be loose- 

 ned to grow into the new soil, if packed against a ball of matted roots, will 

 prevent growth and cause the plant to die very slowly. One of the most im- 

 portant things lor growing either seeds or plants successfully in the garden is 

 the condition of the soil. The beds should be spaded deep, the earth thorough- 

 ly broken up and raked through and through, not just over the surface, as it 

 is so frequently done. Spading should not be done when the earth is too dry or 

 too wet; in one case it breaks up into lumps, and in the other it packs. 



In the open ground, seeds should be sown in shallow drills and covered 

 lightly with soil, which should be pressed down firmly to prevent the air from 

 getting in. and drying the young plants when up. The bed should be 

 thoroughly sprinkled with a fine spray, shutting the water off now and then 

 that it may not wash the young plants up. The young seedlings should not 

 be allowed to become dry. The plants, it' too thick, must be thinned out, and 

 each one given room to develop well. Special seed beds may be prepared 

 in the same way as those outside, excepting that the soil should be mixed with 

 sand and well rotted manure ; they should be enclosed by boards and shaded 

 by lath frames or cloth. 



Seeds of Mignonette, Eschscholtzia, Phlox, Centaureas, Marigolds, Pop- 

 pies of all kinds, and many of the more hardy varieties, may be planted in the 

 bed in which they are to grow. Sow them in February or March, though they 

 will grow and bloom if planted later, but they like cool weather for luxuriant 

 growth ; if planted late in the season the flowers will not be as fine. 



Pansies, Asters, Carnations, Petunias, Salvias, Lobelias, Coleus, and the- 

 more tender seeds are best planted in special seed beds or boxes, and after- 

 wards transplanted to the garden or pots, Ipomea, ''Heavenly Blue" can be 

 planted in the open ground in April. 



