24 
J. STECKLER SEED CO., LTD., ALMANAC AND 
SOWING SEEDS. 
Some seeds are sown at once where 
they are to remain and mature. Others 
are sown in seed beds and transplanted 
afterwards. Seeds should be covered ac- 
cording to their sizes, a covering of 
earth twice the size of the seed is about 
the maximum. Some seeds, such as 
Beans, Corn and Peas, can be covered 
from one to two inches, and they will 
come up well. Here is a difference again: 
Wrinkled Pea’ and Sugar Corn have to 
be covered lighter and more carefully 
than Marrowfat Peas or the common 
varieties of Corn. It depends upon the 
nature of the soil, season of the year, 
ete. For instanee, in heavy wet soils, 
seeds have to be covered lighter than 
in sandy light ground. Seeds which are 
sown during summer in the open ground, 
such as Beets and Carrots, should be 
soaked over night in water and rolled 
in ashes before sowing; they will come 
up quicker. When they are sown in 
a seed bed, the .ground should be 
light enough not to bake after a rain. 
Some varieties of seeds require shade 
when sown during summer, such as 
Cauliflower, Celery and Lettuce. Care 
should be taken to have the shade at 
least three feet 
shade only after the sun has bieen on the 
bed for two or three hours; and remove 
again early in the afternoon so the plants 
may become sturdy. If too much shaded 
they will be drawn up, long-legged, and 
not fit to be set out in the open ground. 
The most successful Cabbage planters 
sow their seeds in the open ground, 
towards the end of July sand dur- 
ing August, and give them no _ shade, 
from the ground, «and~ 
but water and keep the ground moist 
from the day of sowing until the plants 
are transplanted. Seeds should be sown 
thinly in the seed bed. If plants come 
up too thickly they are apt to damp off. 
Lettuce seed should be sprouted dur- 
ing the hot months before sowing, ac- 
cording to directions given for June. 
To sov; Turnips on a large scale dur- 
ing the late summer and early fall 
months, the ground should be prepared 
in advance and the seed sown just be- 
fore or during the rain. Small pieces of 
ground, of course, can be sown at any 
time and watered afterwards. For cover- 
ing all kinds of seeds a fork is preferable 
to a rake; with either implement care 
must be taken not to cover the seeds 
too deep. Beans, Peas and Corn are 
covered with the hoe. Some fine seeds, 
such as Thyme and Tobacco, are covered 
enough when pressed with the back of 
the spade to the ground. The seedsman 
is often blamed for selling seeds which 
have not come up when the same are per- 
fectly good, but, perhaps, through ignor- 
ance, the party by whom they were sown 
placed them too deep or too shallow in 
the ground, or the ground may have been 
just moist enough to swell the seeds and 
they failed to come up. At other times 
washing rains after sowing beat the 
ground and form a crust that the seeds 
are not able to penetrate, or if there i3 
too much manure it will burn the seeds 
and destroy their vitality. 
When seeds, such as Beans, Cucum- 
bers, Melons, and Squash, are planted be- 
fore it is warm enough, they are very apt 
to rot if it rains. 
GERMINATING SEEDS. 
Complaints are often made to seeds- 
men by inexperienced Truck farmers 
and Planters, that certain varieties of 
garden and field seeds are slow in com- 
ing up or fail entirely. The fault, as a 
general rule is mostly the gardeners, but 
the seedsman invariably gets the blame, 
mostly unjust and groundless, but he is 
blamed and other abused nevertheless. 
For the guidance of those who are inex- 
perienced we deem it mecessary to lay 
down the following rules: 
1. Never sow out of time. Many of 
our Truck farmers are in the habit of 
sowing too scon and in consequence are 
often compelled to sow double the quan- 
tity to get a good stand. As to the pro- 
per time for sowing read our directions 
for planting. 
2. Do not cover seed too deep, it will 
be impossible for the finer varieties to 
push through, especially if the soil is 
heavy and claylike. The rule, is never 
to cover seeds ‘more than twice their 
thickness, except the finer ones which 
require no covering at al. They should 
be slightly pressed in the ground to pre- 
vent their being washed away. 
Beans, Peas and Corn should be 
covered % to % inch according to the 
| nature of thie soil. 
Steckler’s Prepared Mocking Bird Food has no Equal. 
