PROPAGATING HARDY PLANTS 53 
the ideal. If inclined to be gravelly, setting hard 
when dry, it is advisable to work in a good dressing 
of loose leaf -mould. If heavy clay, the surface 
should be lightened by raking in burnt earth, wood 
ashes, and sharp sand, and the soil should be roughly 
dug in Autumn so that the Winter's frosts may 
pulverize it and facilitate the fining down of the 
surface early in Spring. Where home-saved seeds 
are to be used no better advice can be given than 
to sow them immediately they are thoroughly 
ripened. Even until mid- Autumn it is in the main 
more profitable to sow than to store until Spring. 
With purchased seeds Spring sowing is generally 
best, because one rarely procures seeds newer than 
those of the previous year's harvest, and although 
many seeds will germinate even when two or three 
years old, all but a small minority lose a considerable 
amount of germinating vigour after a few months' 
storing, especially when kept in paper packets. 
It must not be imagined that these remarks 
imply that it is wise if one procures seeds in January 
or February to sow them immediately in the open 
ground. The soil at that time will be too cold 
and generally too wet to render satisfactory 
germination possible. 
The latter end of March and the month of April 
may be considered early enough for sowing, and 
in a normal season the soil has by that time become 
sufficiently warmed to foster germination and de- 
velopment of the fragile young seedlings. 
