60 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



sufficient air and warmth are not obtained to give the em- 

 bryo life. The seed should be just so far covered as to 

 exclude light, and afford barely moisture sufficient for its 

 wants. The first thing in sowing is a suitable preparation 

 of the soil, so that the young roots thrown out may easily 

 penetrate it. It must be made more or less fine for differ- 

 ent seeds. Peas and beans do not require the soil to be 

 as finely pulverized as small seeds. The seeds must also 

 be firmly fixed in the soil, and pressed by the earth in 

 every part in order to retain moisture sufficient to encour- 

 age vegetation, but they should not be so deeply buried 

 as to be deprived of air, or have their ascending shoots 

 impeded by too much soil above. In all cases, seeds 

 should be sown in fresh dug soil, that they may have the 

 benefit of the moisture therein, but they should never be 

 put in when the soil is really wet, as the ground will bake 

 and the seed perish. Moist weather in summer is excel- 

 lent for putting in seeds, provided the ground is still fria- 

 ble. Just before a light rain is the best possible time for 

 sowing turnips and other summer sown crops. 



Seeds of all kinds should be sown in drills or rows. In 

 these they can be planted at any required depth, while if 

 broad cast, some will be uncovered, and others too 

 deeply buried in the earth. In drills you can know also 

 where to look for the young plants ; they can have the 

 soil dug around them, they will thus grow much faster, 

 and are much more easily thinned and cultivated. When 

 the seeds are planted, the earth should generally be 

 pressed upon them with a roller or by treading with the 

 feet in the case of large seeds, or by smoothing the sur- 

 face with the back of the spade or by walking over them 

 on a board for the smaller kinds. Pressing the earth upon 

 them will retain the moisture about them, and hasten 

 their vegetation. When they come up keep them free 



