Sowing the Seed 



Frederic Cranefield, Secretary 

 State Horticultural Society 



Seed sowing usually proves a stum- 

 bling block to the beg-inner in garden- 

 ing. He gets along very nicely after 

 tlie plants are up but his trouble lies 

 in getting them started. 



There are apt to be many vacant 

 rows in the beginner's garden, while 

 the gardener waits impatiently for the- 

 plants to appear and blames the seeds- 

 man for selling him poor seeds. In 

 most cases the seed is all right; the 

 trouble lies with the planter. More 

 failures result from improper plautingr 

 of seeds Oisn from poor seeds. 



Part I. The Art of Seed Sowing 



Ma^iu^ a Seed Bed: 



For best results the soil must be mel- 

 low, moist and fine, and free from 

 lumps. If the surface has dried since 

 plowing or spading and is lumpy it will 

 pay to turn over two or three inches 

 of the surface soil with a spading fork 

 so as to have a moist and mellow bed 

 for the seeds. Then rake and rake 

 again until the surface soil, for a depth 

 of at least two inches, is fine and mel- 

 low. In this connection let us quote 

 from Circular No. 4. 



<<It is very important tliat tite soil be 

 iM the best possible condition before 

 (2) 



AUG .J- ,g,g 



