402 



SCIENCE OF GARDENING. 



Part II. 



their natures. This is the mode adopted in sowing in pots, and generally in flower- 

 borders. 



2073. In broad-cast sowing, the operator scatters the seed over a considerable breadth 

 of surface previously prepared by digging or otherwise minutely pulverised. The seed 

 is taken up in portions in the hand, and dispersed by a horizontal movement of the arm, 

 to the extent of a semicircle, opening the hand at the same time, and scattering the seeds 

 in the air, so as they may fall as equally as possible over the breadth taken in by the 

 sower at once, and which is generally six feet ; that being the diameter of the circle in 

 which liis hand moves through half the circumference. In sowing broad-cast on the 

 surface of beds, and in narrow strips or borders, tlie seeds are dispersed between the 

 thumb and fingers by horizontal movements of the hand in segments of smaller 

 circles. 



2074. Dry weather is cssentialh/ requisite for sowing, and more especially for the oper- 

 ation of covering in the seed, which in broad-cast sowing is done by treading or gently 

 rolling the surface and then raking it ; and in drill-sowing, by treading in the larger 

 seeds, as peas, and covering with the rake ; smaller seeds, sown in drills, are covered 

 with the same implement without treading. 



2075. Planting, as applied to seeds, or seed-like roots, as potatoes, bulbs, &c. is most 

 frequently performed in drills, or in separate holes made with the dibber ; in these, the 

 seed or bulb is dropt from the hand, and covered with or without treading, according to 

 its nature. Sometimes planting is performed in patches, as in pots or borders, in which 

 case the trowel is the chief implement used. 



2076. Quincunx is a mode of planting in rows, by which the plants in the one row are 

 always opposed to the blanks in the other, so that when a plot of ground is planted in 

 this way, the plants appear in rows in four directions. 



2077. Planting, as applied to plants already originated, consists generally in inserting 

 them in the soil of the same depth, and in the same position as they were before re- 

 moval, but with various exceptions. The principal object is to preserve the fibrous roots 

 entire, to distribute them equally around the stem among the mould or finer soil, and to 

 preserve the plant upright. The plant should not be planted deeper than it stood in the 

 soil before removal, and commonly the same side should be kept towards the sun. 

 Planting should, as much as possible, be accompanied by abundant watering, in order to 

 consolidate the soil about the roots ; and where the soil is dry, or not a stiff clay, it 

 may be performed in the beginning of wet w^eather in gardens ; and in forest-planting, 

 on dry soils, in all open weather during autumn, winter, and spring. 



2078. IVatering becomes requisite in gardens for various purposes, as aliment to plants 

 in a grovdng state, as support to newly transplanted plants, for keeping under insects, 

 and keeping clean the leaves of vegetables. One general rule must he ever kept in mind 

 during the employment of water in a garden ; that is, never to water the top or leaves of 

 a plant when the sun shines. A moment's reflection will convince any one that this 

 rule is agreeable to the laws of nature, for during rain the sun's rays are intercepted by 

 a panoply of fog or clouds. All watering, therefore, should be carried on in the even- 

 ing or early in the morning, unless it be confined to watering the roots, in which case, 

 transplanted plants, and others in a growing state, may be watered at any time ; and if 

 they are shaded from tlie sun, they may also be watered over their tops. Watering over 

 the tops is performed with the rose, or dispenser attached to the spout of the watering-pot, 

 or by the syringe or engine. Watering the roots is best done with the rose ; but in the 

 case of watering pots in haste, and where the earth is hardened, it is done with the naked 

 spout. The compartments of gardens are sometimes watered by a leather tube and muzzle 

 attached at pleasure to different pipes of supply ; but this depends on local circumstances, 

 and, in general, it may be observed that the great increase of labor occasioned by 

 watering compartments renders the practice very limited. In new-laid turf, or lawns of a 

 loose porous soil and too mossy surface, the water-barrel {Jig- 205.) may be advantage- 

 ously used. 



SuBSECT. 2. Transplanting. 



2079. Transplanting is the next operation of rearing, and consists in removing propa- 

 gated plants, whether from seeds, cuttings, or grafts, according to their kinds and other 

 circumstances, to a situation prepared to receive them. The uses of transplanting lig- 

 neous plants are chiefly to increase the number of fibrous roots, so as to prepare or fit 

 young subjects for successful removal from the places where they are originated to their 

 final destination ; but in herbaceous vegetables it is partly used to increase the propor- 

 tion of fibrous roots in plants, relatively to their ramose roots, by which it is found the 

 size and succulency of their leaves, flowers, and fruit are increased. Transplanting 

 involves three things : first, the preparation of the soil to which the plant is to be 

 removed ; secondly, the removal of the plant ; and, thirdly, tlie insertion in the pre- 

 pared soil. 



