66 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, May 5, 1857. 
will bo getting nicely haseled, as it is called, as respects 
dryness. If the surface is not level it is made so with a 
, round board formed on purpose, with a nail placed in its 
upper side as a handle. The seeds are then sown and 
covered with a thickness of dryish soil in proportion to the 
size of the seeds, which soil is again pressed lightly over 
! them ; a square of glass is placed over the pot, and it is set 
| in the window; and if the sort is tender, or the seeds are 
i very small, a piece of paper is laid on the glass to shade it. j 
Eor such small seeds as the Lobelia and Calceolaria a slight 
surfacing of dry silver sand is best; for such seeds as Mig¬ 
nonette more covering of fine material, as dryish earth, 
would be required; for such seeds as a Balsam the one- 
tenth of an inch would be required, whilst for a Convolvulus 
the one-fourth of an inch might be used. 
This plan, useful in all cases, is especially applicable to all 
kinds of small seeds. The seed absorbs moisture gradually; 
there is a storehouse beneath it upon which it can draw 
without frequent obligations to the water-pail, which is 
the innocent cause of sending so many seedlings to their 
death ; and as the square of glass, while permitting the 
/ entrance of a sufficiency of air, to a great extent prevents 
free evaporation of moisture, the soil beneath the seed is a 
long time in parting with its moisture, and the young roots 
are kept in a nice regular condition. Some amateurs who 
have followed this plan, and been very successful in getting 
up fine batches of seedlings, have told me that their 
troubles began when they were obliged to water, as then 
their nice seedlings damped and shanked off close to the 
surface of the soil, especially when the seedlings were very 
thick. In the latter case, thinning or even pricking them 
out with a small dibber in little patches an inch apart in 
similarly-prepared pots, to be singled out afterwards, would 
be a good remedy. I have a horror of watering all such 
seed-pots carelessly from a rose. I can hardly tell how it 
does such injury, but that it does so frequently there can be 
no question. It is better to flood the pot gently by pouring 
the water from the spout on to a piece of broken pot placed 
against the side of the pot; or, better still, placing tbe pot in 
a pail of water up to the rim until thoroughly moistened. 
I have often tried similar seed-pots by the dipping and the 
watering mode; and whilst I have scarcely had a casualty 
from the dipping, I have had many from watering overhead 
with a rose. 
It is, I hope, understood that the pane of glass is to be 
kept over the pot closely until the seedlings appear; after¬ 
wards it must be edged up on one side to give more air, and 
ultimately.be removed. I have mentioned squares of glass 
because pieces to suit such pots can be so easily procured, 
and by turning them there is little danger of damping the 
seedlings from the condensed drops of moisture falling upon 
them, as is likely to be the case with bellglasses of the 
common flat-headed kind unless they are frequently wiped 
dry inside. Were the expense of a few bellglasses no object 
(and a few shillings will get a good stock), we should prefer 
them if made conical—that is, rising to a sharp point in the 
middle—as then there would be less occasion still for water¬ 
ing small seedlings, as, if their edge was within the pot’s 
rim, the moisture that was raised as vapour during the day 
would be condensed against the sides of the glass, and 
trickle down again, and moisten the soil without falling in 
drops over the young plants. 
This equable state of moisture, so desirable in many cases 
of tender seedlings, may also be secured by using a rather 
porous pot for a seed-pot, and then packing that in a pot a 
size larger, and filling up between with moss kept in a damp 
state. My first attempt to give bottom heat to seedlings and 
cuttings on my own account was made in a window by 
using two pots in the above manner, the space between being 
filled with sawdust, and kept moist and warmish by dropping 
on it warm water, and allowing a little to stand in the saucer 
which held the outer pot. 
I have seen several attempts to secure a moist atmosphere 
and warmth for seedlings and cuttings in windows by various 
modifications of the handglass principle, set upon a frame, 
on which the pots might stand. I had seriously thought of 
recommending for the proprietors of many of our pretty 
parlour windows a Liliputian greenhouse, set upon a 
neat table, only tbe top was to be iron instead of wood, 
and the drawer beneath it was to be lined with zinc but 
the outside wood in the usual way, with conveniences 
for filling this drawer with hot water from the kitchen cop¬ 
per, and removing it when cold at pleasure; but I now 
gladly give any one the right to make a fortune from such 
an idea, though entertaining no doubt of its answering well, 
as the Waltonian case, with fair attendance, would answer 
quite as well, and may be obtained all complete without the 
bother of planning and engineering. Than such a case I 
know of nothing likely to be more interesting to an invalid 
who cannot garden out of doors. A full description and 
! plan will be found at page 429, Vol. XV., by Mr. Beaton; 
and, though I have not seen one, I leel confident that the 
case will answer well, and look nice as an article of furniture. 
The principle is just the same as our table-drawer stand, 
only more elaborated, the tin drawer or boiler standing quite 
free of the platform and sides, and being heated by tin 
! tubes passing through it from the flame of a lamp or a gas 
jet, while the heat from the lamp passes also round the 
little boiler. A tube also rises from the little boiler into the 
flame, so as to communicate moist vapour at will. Those 
who try the simpler table-drawer plan may have plenty of 
vapour from a similar means, or by merely sprinkling the zinc 
bottom when the water beneath is warm. Mr. Beaton says 
that the best size for such a case is thirty-four inches long, 
seventeen inches wide, thirteen inches deep at front, and 
eighteen inches at the back, all inside measure; and the 
reason why such a size is best he also tells us, for he 
never makes a statement without giving us the why and the 
wherefore. Such a box will hold three rows of No. 48 pots, 
and six pots in a row, or four rows of No. 60, and eight pots 
in the row. 
I may here conclude with two remarks ; first, that when 
using such a case—and we hope Mr. West, of Surbiton, will 
have many orders—care must be taken that the plants are 
gradually inured to the open window by protecting and 
shading a little at first when removed from the case. A cool 
case, with the top moveable in pieces, would be useful, and, 
in default of this, bellglasses and funnels of tissue paper 
will be handy. The second is, that in addition to old seeds 
and small seeds, which I have adverted to, it may be neces- 
sai'y to state that such hard seeds as Acacias and Indian 
Shots will vegetate all the sooner if immersed in water for 
some hours at a temperature of 90°, or if a part of the hard 
shell is filed off previously to sowing them. 
The following seeds of plants may be tried where there is 
room, and may be easily procured from the seedsman at a 
very moderate price:— 
1. Plants of a shrubby nature which will do for windows : 
—Acacia armata, grandis, and Drummondii; Cassia corym- 
bosa; Coronilla glauca; Cytisus proliferus and Attleana; Do- 
lichos lignosus, a climber; Ericas of sorts; Fuchsias of sorts; 
Jasminum odoratum; Kennedya rubicunda, a trailer; Passi- 
flora cserulea; Sollya heterophylla. 
2. Plants partaking of a herbaceous character that will 
bloom in the autumn, or may be kept on for the following 
year:—Alonsoaincisifolia, Anomatheca cruenta, Calceolaria, 
Cineraria, Chrysanthemum Indicum, Campanula pyramidalis 
and nobilis; Coboea scandens, strong climber; Commelina 
coelestis ; Cuphea platycentra and miniata; Gazania rigens, 
Gladiolus, Liliums, Maurandyas of sorts and colours; Mi- 
mulus, ditto; Nierembergia gracilis, filicaulis, and inter¬ 
media ; Oxalis rosea; Pelargoniums; Salvia coccinea, 
patens, &c.; Schizanthus Grahami, &c.; Sparaxis tricolor; 
Tigridia pavonia, &c. 
3. Small annuals suitable for window decoration in sum¬ 
mer and autumn :—Anagallis Pliillipsii and Monelli; Bal¬ 
sams; Cockscombs, if bottom heat can be given; Calan- 
drinia grandiflora; Clintonia elegans and pulcliella; Di¬ 
discus cserulea; Isotoma axillaris ; Linum grandiflorum; 
Lobelia speciosa, old; ditto new, ramosa; Mesembryanthemum 
glabrum, tricolor, and lineare; Portulacca of sorts; Rho- 
danthe Manglesii; Acroclinium roseum; and here we 
may place Primula Sinensis fimbriata, though properly it 
should have been in the last section, as it will not be 
expected to bloom until autumn and winter. 
4. Annuals that will bloom well in the balcony and flower 
garden if plauted out in May:—Abronia umbellata; Am- 
mobium alatum; Antirrhinums; Argernone grandiflora; 
Aster, Chinese, French, and German; Bartonia aurea; 
Brachycome Iberidifolia; Calliopsis Drummondii; Datura 
