SUCCESS WITH FLOWER SEEDS. 



PROVIDED the soil is in a proper state, flower seeds may be sown in the open 

 border in the months of April and May. The seeds should be sown as soon as the 

 soil becomes dry and easily crumbled, after the spring frosts have disappeared. They 

 may also be sown in prepared beds of lijjht, rich soil, and transplanted into the 

 garden. The former is the more simple method, but not always as satisfactory. The 

 better plan is to sow all fine seeds under glass in a greenhouse, hot-bed, or in the 

 house. As to the depth to which seeds should be covered, the best general rule is to 

 cover fine seeds very lightly, just enough to protect them from the sun; and in 

 extremely dry weather a sprinkling of damp moss is very useful. With very fine seeds 

 it is best to sow on the surface, and press then slightly into the soil. We are con- 

 vinced that one of the most frequent causes of failure is in sowing the seeds too deep, 

 and seedsmen are unjustly censured, when the fault lies with the cultivator. 



For sowing seeds, shallow boxes 2 to 3 inches deep, and covered with a light of 

 glass and with open seams at the bottom, so that the water can drain through quickly, 

 are best. (These we keep in stock all ready for use.) The best soil is a mixture of 

 equal parts of sand, leaf-mold, and light, rich garden loam, which should be 

 thoroughly mixed and passed through a coarse sieve ; then fill your pots, p.ms, or 

 boxes within half an inch of the rim; press the soil firmly and evenly. If the soil is 



dry it is best to water freely a day or two before sowing the seed, to enable the surplus water to drain off. After they are sown 



cover slightly with fine soil; carefully water with a fine rose or spray. When they are designed to be grown in the house, the 



temperature should be as near 60 degrees as possible; place them in a light window facing south or east. 



The importance of uniform attention to watering may be best learned by experience and observation, but the inexperienced 



cultivator maybe reminded that to omit a single watering and allow the young plant-germs from seed to remain in a parched state, 



or a too frequent indiscriminate watering, usually leads to the eventual loss of the whole. 



As soon as the plants are large enough to handle, prick them into other boxes or pots, placing them about 1 inch apart each 



w.iy ; they must be shaded for a few days from the sun, until they are established. When large enough they can be potted in 



small pots, and kept until the proper season for planting in the garden. 



^WHY SE£DS FAIL. 



From a conviction that the seedsman's fair reputation is often unjustly defamed, through the failure of seeds, we would 

 briefly state some of the causes. 



Some cultivators, through ignorance or forgetfulness of the fact that the products of a garden, being natives of various soils 

 and climates, require peculiar management, sow the seeds in the ground at improper seasons. To aid such we have prepared brief 

 directions, founded on practical experience in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where gardening operations are generally commenced 

 early in March. These directions may, however, be applied to all other parts of the United States, by an observance of the 

 difference in temperature. Thus, to the North, the directions for March will apply to April ; and in the South to January. 

 February, or whatever season gardening operations may commence in the respective States. The early and most hardy species 

 and varieties should not be planted until the ground can be brought into good condition, ;is some species of plants, that in an 

 advanced stage of growth will stand a hard winter, are often cut off by a very slight frost while young, especially if exposed to the 

 sun after a frosty night. 



Some species of seed, such as Beans, Beet, Cabbage, Lettuce, Radish, Salsify, Turnip, etc., being from their nature apt to 

 vegetate quickly, are often destroyed while germinating through variableness of the weather, and some are liable to be devoured 

 by insects in forty-eight hours after they are sown, and before a plant is seen above the ground, unless a suitable remedy is applied 

 in time to destroy the insects. 



Other species, such as Carrots, Celery, Leek, Onion, Parsley, Parsnip, .Spinach, etc., being naturally of tardy growth, take (in 

 unfavorable seasons) from two to three or four weeks to vegetate, and are apt to perish through incrustation of the soil, or other 

 untoward and unaccountable circumstances, which cannot always be controlled 



Failures often occur through seeds being deposited too deeply in the ground or left too near the surface. Sometimes, for the 

 vant of a proper quantity of seed in a given spot, solitary plants will perish, they not having sufficient strength to open the 

 pores of the eartli, and very frequently injudicious management in over-manuring and improperly preparing the soil causes 

 defeat. 



In some sowings of seeds, made during the dry weather, with a drought following, a total failure often occurs from neglecting 

 to firmly press or roll in the seeds, so that when they germinate the action of tlie heat and drought may not afTect the germ. We 

 are satisfied that thousands of pounds of Turnip, late Cabbage, and other summer-sown seeds are annually lost from this neglect. 

 Never tread or roll in the seeds when the ground is wet. 



Do not raise Egg Plants, etc., in the same hot-bed with Cabbage and other haU-hardy plants thr-t require air every mild 

 day; by such management one or the otlier must suffer — heat being the principal requisite of tender plants, and air that of the 

 more hardy varieties. 



The fall worth of their money to all is the broad principle in which we always deal, and we refer to our reputation as 



evidence that we live up to the precept. 



(18) 



