174 
THE RANUNCULUS. 
thinly. Some persons lay the heads of seed 
by until the sowing time, and then scrape 
off and mix them with sand, for the seeds are 
only very thin scales, and cling together in 
lumps, unless separated by the means already 
mentioned. In February, get large sized 
pots, in preference to shallow boxes, or pans, 
which are recommended by most writers, and 
fill them within one inch with the soil recom- 
mended for growing the tubers in, gently 
knocking the bottom of the pot against the 
table to settle the earth down ; upon this place 
the same kind of soil, sifted through a fine 
sieve that will let nothing larger than a ra- 
dish seed through it, and strike this off level 
with the edge of the pot. Upon this sow the 
seeds thinly, that is, so that not more than 
four or five seeds would be within a square 
inch, and upon this seed sift as much more 
soil as will just cover it and no more, so as 
not perceptibly to raise the soil above the 
edge. The reason for recommending pots in- 
stead of pans or shallow boxes, is that the 
greater body of earth preserves the moisture 
more regularly ; this must never be allowed 
to get dry, but when watered the only safe 
way to do it is to get a brush, about the tex- 
ture of a clothes-brush, which must be dipped 
in water, and then by turning the hairs 
upwards, and drawing your hand along the 
tops towards you, they throw off the wet in 
such fine particles as not to disturb the lighter 
seeds. There are, however, patent syringes, 
which throw out the water as fine as any dew ; 
one of these will throw water up so as to fall 
almost as fine as a mist, and the operation is 
not so tedious by a good deal as by means of 
the brush ; another advantage is that the 
watering may be continued until the pot of 
soil is fairly saturated, without disturbing a 
particle of earth; and this is one use of the 
finest roses that are made to screw on these 
patent syringes, or, as they are sometimes 
called, garden pumps. If, however, the fine 
rose be applied with direct force, it is strong 
enough to remove vermin from the stems and 
leaves of plants ; therefore, if the water were 
thrown even with this finest rose direct on the 
seed pots, the soil would be washed out of the 
pots. The only proper way is to elevate the 
rose so that the particles fall on the seed. 
These pots may be set in a green-house or 
cold frame, and be protected from heavy falls 
of rain, and the direct rays of the sun, when- 
ever they are too hot, but morning and even- 
ing sun will not hurt them. If large quan- 
tities are to be sown, a bed may be prepared, 
forming the same as when old tubers are to 
be planted, but it must be the dimensions that 
will suit a common garden frame, not more than 
six inches deep in front and twelve at back; the 
frame may be placed on this soil, which should 
be well patted down, level and even rolled ; 
upon this place the frame, which should be 
filled to the height of three inches with the 
sifted compost, and the back and front may 
be banked up outside to the same height ; the 
inside soil being nicely levelled, the seed may 
be thinly sown, and occasionally watered with 
the fine rose : if a proper garden syringe is 
not at hand, get the finest rose that can be 
procured made to a watering pot of one gal- 
lon only, and with careful watering the seed 
will not be much disturbed : whether the seed 
be in pots or in whole frames as now men- 
tioned, the proceeding must be the same. 
Protecting from the weather and occasional 
shading are necessary, and must be given ; 
and every weed removed as soon as it is large 
enough to take hold of, however tedious the 
job may seem, for a few days' growth of weeds 
would destroy a large portion of the young 
plants. Plenty of air must be given as soon 
as the plants appear, and watering must not 
be neglected. As soon as the plants get four 
leaves the glasses may be removed all day, 
except in bad weather, and water must be 
given only after sun-set ; it will be necessary 
to continue the glasses at night if there be 
the slightest chance of frost. In this way 
continue managing them until they have at- 
tained their full growth, carefully removing 
every weed as soon as it can be laid hold of. 
When the foliage begins to turn yellow and 
decay, they should be taken up by sifting the 
soil through the same fine sieve, beginning at 
one end of the frame, which should be lifted 
off, and taking the fine portion of the compost 
to the bottom, picking out the small tubers, 
which will be easily found among the stuff 
that hangs behind in the sieve, for it will not 
all go through again as it did at first. When 
all that can be found are picked out in the 
dry sifting, wash what is left in the sieve each 
time by sifting again in a vessel of water, 
for the earth will cling to the tubers so as to 
make them appear like lumps of soil.* They 
should be spread out to dry in the shade, and 
be then preserved in dry sand until the 
January following, when in prepared beds, 
exactly similar to those for the blooming 
tubers, they are to be planted for blooming ; 
on this occasion they need only be placed three 
inches apart in the rows, although they will 
grow rank and strong, even more so than ma- 
tured tubers ; but so large a portion will be 
single and semi-double and useless, so that by 
taking up the worthless, plenty of room will 
be given to those which happen to be worth 
* The old writers recommend that before the soil 
is sifted, to get out the small tubers, the decayed leaves 
should he picked off; nothing can he worse advice, 
for the stems and decaying leaves are of the greatest 
use in finding the tubers. 
