GARDEN MANUAL FOR THE SOUTHERN STATES. 
15 
GERMINATING SEEDS. 
Complaints are often made to seedsmen 
by inexperienced Truck farmers and Plant- 
ers that certain varieties of garden and 
field seeds are slow in coming 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- 
wise abused nevertheless. For thé guid- 
ance of those who are inexperienced we 
deem it necessary to lay down the follow- 
ing rules: 
1. Never sow out of time. Many of our 
Truck farmers are in the habit of sowing 
too soon and in consequence are often 
compelled to sow double the quantity to 
get a good stand. As to the proper 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 
all. They should be slightly pressed in the 
ground to prevent their being washed 
away. 
Beans, Peas and Corn should be covered 
% to % inch according to the nature of 
the soil. 
3. Keep your seed beds moist, but not 
too wet. Water in evening and during 
extremely dry weather twice a day or 
oftener if required. Tender seeds, such as 
Celery, Onions, Leek and Cauliflower, may 
be shaded during the hottest part of the 
day, they have to be uncovered in the 
evening while the sun is still on the bed, 
well watered and left uncovered during the 
night. During cloudy weather no covering 
is needed, nor should they be covered 
when they are up, otherwise the young 
plants become tender and damp off. 
4. Previous to planting have your seed 
beds well prepared, have the _ soil well 
pulverized and mellow, but not too fine, 
otherwise a crust will form, owing to con- 
stant watering, on the surface, which 
prevents the tender germ from pushing 
through. 
5. Never use fresh manure in the seed 
bed, if any is needed use well rotted Horse, 
or in light sandy soil Cow manure and 
incorporate it well with the soil before 
sowing the seed. 
THE HOT BED. 
Owing to the open winters in the South, 
hot-beds are not so much used as in the 
North, except to raise such tender plants 
as Eggplants, Tomatoes and Peppers. 
There is little forcing of vegetables done 
here, except as regards Cucumbers and 
Lettuce; and if we do not have any hard 
frosts, the latter does better in the open 
ground than under glass. To make a hot 
bed is a very simple thing. Any one who 
has the use of tools can make the wooden 
frame, the sashes can be obtained from any 
sash factory. We consider a wooden frame 
from 5 to 6 feet wide and 10 feet 6 inches 
long a very good size. It should be at 
least 6 inches higher at the back than in 
the front, and covered by three _ sashes 
3%x5 feet. The manure ought not to be 
more than a month old; it should be thrown 
together in a heap, and when commencing 
to heat, be worked over with a fork, and 
the long and short manure evenly mixed. 
In this State the ground is generally low, 
and to retain the heat of the manure for 
a tong time, it is best to put the manure 
on top of the ground—that is, make a bank 
two feet longer and two feet wider than 
the frame. Keep the edges straight and 
the corners firm; when thrown up about 
eighteen inches trample the manure down 
to six or eight inches, then put another 
layer of eighteen inches and trample down 
again; place thereon the frame and sash 
and fill in six inches of good earth. After 
about five days stir the ground to kill the 
weeds which may have come up, then sow 
the seeds. In lower Louisiana the ground 
is too wet to dig out eighteen inches deep. 
Throw in the manure and trample down as 
recommended in the North, by a few hard 
rains, such as we frequently have in win- 
ter, the manure would become so _ soaked 
beneath the ground that the heat would be 
gone. Another advantage when the frame 
is put above the ground is that it will go 
down with the manure gradually, and there 
remains always the same space between 
the glass and the ground. If the ground 
is dug out and the manure put into the 
frame, the ground will sink so low after 
a short time that the sun will have little 
effect upon it and the plants will become 
spindly. 
Number of Plants or Trees to the Acre at Given Distances. 
Distance Apart. No. Plants. 
Bes EOC. 5. eee, A 174,240 
Deg see a ee se 43,560 
ily SOC: ee eee ns es 19,360 
PAS CT AM Lage. NO en dee ee ei ieee 10,890 
POE ns Fos Ret or, Seles ne rein pe ety peat ere rae ek a 6,969 
rags SS ak ge ta i hy OF eee ees eee 14,520 
Bo aoa, VAS eee ON a ne 7,260 
BOER ADY ce BPC ot te She 4,840 
Chale S21 oy BE am Ne 275) RoR he om ibe a eae ope 10,888 
ima ore Ok gi i: Yc.) apeapergetet mem, Popa pan aay amie 5,444 
oa Ce BO Oh ai TAG Le j Pea eal cl telat ee io 3,629 
POC Un y e TORT ee Z,lae 
SRD a ee 1,742 
Distance Apart. No. Plants. 
GUIEECt - ....-..... oo eee 1,210 
eS se > ee 889 
Sr ec) ane eee pecmee meee Fe BR he RR Ee te 680 
RE re a Sr ee ee ae a eee 573 
it | When e215 set i RR alee Rata pase rand Mae haere tet 435 
gD hcg 2) 5 spall LI panera aeadiatigle Eee < Soek L AE 360 
i GA of 22) iain red ares Miers SO ee arto Scene 302 
ai Yabs 8212) Rcbeaematetehe ted ety in! abe en DP 193 
eh ae eee nn, ens 2 eS 134 
PALM a >, yp etangs talaga ty cep me. LS. nc 108 
72 Tipe ev) aapatoriadee a wile Set Ae Sa eins. satin 69 
BC UAS 7) et, anata Fs lM ae aa ral rar Rafter «atone 49 
Steckler’s Seeds Are Best—Best Seeds Always Grow. 
