248 



ON PROPAGATION BY SEED. 



tageous, excepting the case of annuals ; that Mexican and Chilian seeds 

 succeed best if sown in spring ; tliat with regard to Europe, and the north 

 of India, trees and shrubs should be sown in the autumn, and annuals or 

 perennials in the spring ; that all seeds, of whatever kind, should be sown in 

 dry soil, and not watered till they begin to vegetate ; in the case of old or 

 sickly seeds, to water them at the time of sowing is to ensure their destruc- 

 tion by rotting ; that shading is to be preferred to watering ; and that one of 

 the best constructions for the purpose is a pit glazed with double sashes like 

 one in the Society's Garden ; finally, that all seedlmgs should be potted or 

 transplanted as soon as possible, except bulbs (Proceedings of the Hort. Soc. 

 for 1840, p. 176). 



569. The mechanical process of sowing is very simple ; whether the seeds 

 are sown broad-cast, that is, distributed equally over an even surface, or 

 deposited in drills or regular furrows, they are delivered from the hand, and 

 not, as in agriculture, from sowing machines. Some rough seeds, such as 

 those of the carrot, are mixed with sawdust or sand, to separate them so 

 that they may drop singly, and other very small seeds, such as those of 

 rhododendrons, and other ericacea, are mixed with fine sand to prevent them 

 from falling too thickly. The smallest seeds of all, such as those of the 

 ferns, and of some of the hardy orchidesB, are sown on the surface of pots or 

 pans filled with well drained peat and sand, and placed in a shady place 

 and covered with glass. American tree seeds of small size are generally 

 sown in pans or boxes as soon as received, and kept under glass in a cold 

 pit, and shaded during sunshine till they vegetate. Cape and Australian 

 seeds, and in general all seeds from warm climates, are sown as soon as 

 received in a mixture of loam, peat and sand, and placed in a temperature 

 similar to that of the growing season in the country they came from. 



570. Sowing seeds in powdered charcoal has been tried in the Botanic 

 Garden at Munich with extraordinary success. Seeds of cucumbers and 

 melons sown in it germinated one day sooner than others sown in soil, 

 and plunged in the same hotbed ; becoming strong plants, while the others 

 remained comparatively stationary. Ferns sown on the surface of fine sifted 

 charcoal, germinate quickly and vigorously ; and it seems not improbable, 

 that this material may be found as useful in exciting seeds difficult to ger- 

 minate, as it is in rooting cuttings difficult to strike. 



571. Sowing seeds in snow. Tliis practice originated at Munich five or 

 six years ago, and the following account of it was given by M. Lucas in the 

 Garten Zeitung for 1841, and translated in the Gardeners Magazine for 

 the same year : — " For five years past I have been very successful in sowing 

 seeds in snow that are considered difficult to germinate ; such as the follow- 

 ing alpine plants : gentiana, ranunculus, anemone, &c. ; and in this manner 

 I raised several hundred young gentianas in Messrs. Hague's establishment 

 at Erfurt. In our gardens in the north of Germany, it is a well-known 

 practice to sow the auricula in snow, and this spring the idea struck me of 

 making the same trial with exotic seeds, which are generally more difficult 

 to germinate ; I therefore sowed a few of the seeds of New Holland plants, 

 principally of the papilionaceous and mimosa kinds, also erica, rhodoraceas, 

 cactaceae, cucurbitaceee, &c., all of the most distinct families. I filled the 

 pots with earth the most suitable to each kind of plant; I then put a layer of 

 snow, then the seed, and covered it with another layer of snow. I set them 

 in a box covered with glass, and placed it in one of the houses at a tempera- 



