February, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XV 



tion is delayed the seed may not actually be 

 lost. Take, for instance, the Japanese hop, 

 which will sometimes come up the same spring 

 it is sown, but more frequently remains in the 

 ground until the following spring. 



Large hard-shelled seeds, like the Japanese 

 morning glory, erianthus, canna and the like, 

 will need to be soaked in hot water for twenty- 

 four hours, and in the case of the erianthus 

 and canna should have the shell filed or sand- 

 papered down to the white before soaking 

 and planting. Canna seeds so treated will 

 sprout in from three to five days, while with- 

 out this furthering treatment they would 

 likely remain in the ground for as many weeks. 

 It is a good plan to plant seeds of ornamental 

 plants, as the canna, ricinus and the like, in 

 small pots, planting two or three seeds to the 

 pot and removing all but the best plants when 

 they appear. As the pots fill with roots the 

 plants may be shifted into other pots one or 

 two sizes larger and grown on until time to 

 plant out in the open ground. In this way 

 they will be in the best of condition for plant- 

 ing out and will be further advanced than 

 would be the case were they grown, untrans- 

 planted, in the flats, where they would need 

 to be disturbed and checked in their growth 

 when the planting time came. 



When the plants are up and showing a well- 

 developed seed leaf they should be removed to 

 a sunny window where they will have as even 

 a temperature as possible. There is a new 

 shelf for the plant window now being manu- 

 factured especially suited to this especial busi- 

 ness. It is self-adjusting, requiring neither 

 screws, brackets nor nails to support it, and 

 hence can not injure the finest woodwork. It 

 is instantly adjusted or removed, and as it 

 rests on the top of the bottom sash, where the 

 heat is much higher than on the sill, it af- 

 fords the bottom heat so desirable in starting 

 seeds, cuttings or bulbs. It is, moreover, out 

 of the way of the plants in the lower part 

 of the window, and so utilizes space not other- 

 wise employed. On this the little seed flats 

 and pots may be placed and a sheet of white 

 paper inserted between them and the glass to 

 temper the glare of the sun, and if the proper 

 degree of moisture is maintained, will be 

 found to thrive and grow in a way to delight 

 and surprise one. 



As soon as the little plants have become of 

 a size to handle they may be pricked out into 

 larger flats, setting an inch apart each way 

 and allowed to grow on until again crowded, 

 when they may be again transplanted. This 

 frequent transplanting is of great value, as it 

 encourages the formation of abundant feeding 

 roots, without which the plant can not thrive. 

 Asters, balsams and the like are especially im- 

 proved by this process ; especially is this true 

 of the balsam, which will not give large, 

 double blossoms without it. 



Little, if anything, is gained by too early 

 planting in the open ground; some few plants 

 there are which do not mind a touch of frost, 

 such as the asters, pansies and the like, and 

 may be shoved along if convenience requires 

 it, out of the way of the more tender plants ; 

 but, as a general thing, it will be well to de- 

 fer the planting of all but the most hardy 

 plants until all danger of frost is past, which 

 will not be before the twentieth of May in 

 the more northern States, and the season of 

 corn planting may, all over the country, be 

 taken as a safe date to reckon by. 



Seed planted in the open ground require 

 even more care than those planted in house 

 and hotbed, as they are subjected to sudden 

 changes of weather from which they are pro- 

 tected when grown under shelter. The seed 

 bed should be very carefully prepared, dug 

 deep and made very fine on the surface. If 

 the soil is at all stiff or clayey a top dressing of 



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1 



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