THE GARDEN PRIMER 



oughly watered. The amount of water a garden re- 

 quires is just enough to maintain the soil at a condi- 

 tion of slowly crumbling apart in the hand after being 

 squeezed — and this proportion should be constantly 

 maintained. Too dry a soil or a soil that is too wet 

 even, is not so bad as the alternations between the 

 two extremes which careless gardening permits. 



Seeds vary greatly in the time required for germi- 

 nation. Some sprout as soon as the earth closes around 

 them, seemingly, while others lie dormant for so long 

 that the novice at last gives up hope, growing so thor- 

 oughly resigned to his disappointment that he forgets 

 them completely, when lo! up comes the living green 

 one day, quite a year perhaps, from the planting time. 



But happily such procrastination is found only 

 among the slow growing plants, with which the begin- 

 ner is seldom tempted to experiment — the perennials 

 which furnish our trees and shrubs and hardiest vege- 

 tation generally. Flowers and vegetables ordinarily 

 spring quickly into activity, in a very satisfactory and 

 obliging manner, rewarding the beginner's labors usu- 

 ally within a fortnight — sometimes much sooner. 



So much for the practical details of seed handling; 

 and now for one or two things about seeds themselves 

 that ought to be understood — and that are interesting 

 to know. 



A seed is the case in which, carefully folded and 

 ingeniously packed away, lies an embryonic plant, with 

 the food necessary to sustain it for a certain period of 

 its life above ground. In some seeds this plant is 



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