SEED SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING. 



43 



more liable to get a good start in it than in soil that has lain 

 untilled long enough to become crusty and lumpy. Then, if the 

 seeds are planted immediately after cultivation has been given 

 and while the soil is still moist, the weeds will hardly get the 

 start of the crop planted if reasonable care is used. In fact, 

 following this rule will generally insure success as long as there 

 is life in the seed and moisture in the soil. Again, it is preferable 

 to sow seeds immediately after a rain rather than just before it 

 comes, since in the case of the finer seeds the crust which forms 

 immediately after a rain may be so compact that the young 

 seedlings cannot push through. When a crust thus forms over 

 seeds it is sometimes a good plan to go over the land before the 

 crust is very compact and break it up with rakes, but this should 

 be done in a most careful manner so as not to disturb the seeds. 

 If a crust forms over fine seeds, such as celery, tobacco and 

 others, it is a good plan to keep the crust moist, at least, until 

 the seeds have pushed through it. Soil that is much dried out in 

 midsummer is often quite an obstacle to the ready germina- 

 tion of seed sown at that time, but if the seed is sown shortly 

 after the ground is plowed and somewhat deeper than it is 

 generally sown, in the early spring and care is taken to firm 

 the earth very carefully immediately after sowing, the seed will 

 generally come up very quickly at this season. But the land 

 should not be worked for seed sowing or for any other purpose 

 when very wet and sticky, as seeds cannot be properly planted 

 in soil in such condition. 



The Time for Sowing the various seeds varies greatly and 

 will be founnd referred to separately under the several heads. 

 Some seeds, such as spinach, onion, lettuce and radish may be 

 sown as soon r.s the ground can be worked, while the seed 

 of such tropical plants as corn, cucumber and squash should not 

 be sown until the ground is well warmed. The early sown 

 hardier seeds are often frozen up in the ground and, perhaps, 

 covered with snow without injury; in fact, a covering of snow 

 seems to help seeds of the hardy kinds to grow. 



Sowing in Stiff Clay Soils. — It is comparatively easy to make 

 seeds germinate in sand, sandy loam, muck or soil rich in humus, 

 provided they contain a reasonable amount of moisture, but in 

 stiff clay soils this is often quite a different matter, as the land 



