Thinning and Pricking Off 
relation to each other and to the seed-sowing, 
and follow next in order and importance. 
Timely pricking off, while no panacea against 
the dangers arising from thick sowing, certainly 
reduces some of its risks and should be indulged 
in as early as possible. With many seedlings 
the appearing of the first rough leaf is considered 
a good time, the seedlings then having a suffi- 
ciently advanced root-system to admit of the 
work being done with safety. Even in the case 
of thinly sown seeds, pricking off should not be 
unduly delayed since the isolation the opera- 
tion affords in conjunction with better soil is 
calculated to give the youngster a good start 
in life. Tap-rooted or sparsely-rooted subjects 
rarely prick off well, hence the need for greater 
care in dealing with them. Here a word of 
warning to the amateur may not be out of place, 
the professional is already aware of it. It is 
this. Do not rely too much on the more vigorous 
seedlings to the discarding of the smaller ; the 
latter give, frequently enough, the finer varieties. 
The soil for pricking off should be of rougher 
texture than that recommended for seed-sowing ; 
it should also contain less sand and more finely 
sifted manure. 
Raising in frames does not differ materially 
from raising in the greenhouse, and is, at most, 
but a question of degree. There are, of course, 
the differences of the warmed and cold frames, 
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