3G4 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Mahch 16, 18o8. 
covered again with Lycopods. In the centre of the 
house, there are set up rough thickish branches, or 
stems of trees ; and on the side branches, cut level 
purposely, pots of Ferns are placed. From the roof 
are suspended baskets, filled first with a layer of moss, 
and then soil; and in them the drooping species are 
growing. There is a stage, on the south side, hidden 
with moss ; and on it the choicer species are grown in 
pots. Even the cistern is made rustic, with long strips 
of bark entirely hiding its sides. To carry out the 
illusion, the door itself is concealed by fronds of dried 
Ferns. Taking it altogether, I consider it the most 
interesting and appropriate Fern house I have seen. 
Adjoining this exotic Fern house, there is now form¬ 
ing a hardy fernery, which, when completed, will be 
as unique as the former. I saw large roots and 
chumps of trees, and heaps of stones, lying ready to 
form it with. The rough idea given to me, of its in¬ 
tended form and size, convinced me that in a year or 
two a description of it would be pleasing to growers 
of these interesting plants. T. Applebi. 
SOWING SEEDS. 
The condition in which the ground ought to be to 
receive garden seeds, is one of those subjects on which 
much difference of opinion exists ; for we often see a 
successful result from two causes, widely differing from 
each other in their origin ; and the sowing of seeds, 
by hand, is often done in a manner diametrically 
opposite to that in which Nature performs the same 
operation. The latter mode is simple enough. Seeds 
ripening in the summer, or autumn, of each year, sow 
themselves, and either fall on, or are scattered over, 
the ground at the time when its extreme dryness pre¬ 
cludes the chance of its vegetating then. Even if it 
did, the hardiness at the top would prevent it 'obtain¬ 
ing nourishment there. But many seeds that ripen 
in summer do not grow until the following spring, 
even when they fall on ground apparently favourable 
to their growth. This wise provision of Nature pre¬ 
vents the plant vegetating at a time when it is sure to 
perish, by the cold weather likely to follow; and though 
the seed may fall on hard and stony ground, a 
winter’s rain and frost so modifies it as to suit it to 
the wants of the young seedling. This is one of 
Nature’s modes of sowing seeds : let us see how far 
we imitate it. 
In the first place, it is proper to observe, that many 
of the most useful of garden plants are from climates 
much warmer than our own ; some, in tact, will not 
ripen their seeds well in this country, though they 
attain a useful growth. Even hardy trees, bearing 
large seeds, reproduce themselves very sparingly. A 
Sweet Chestnut, for instance, produces, in favourable 
seasons, abundance of well-formed nuts ; but a young 
self-sown seedling tree is rarely met with—I am not 
certain of ever having seen one—while the Oak, Ash, 
and Sycamore, and other trees (all, doubtless, indige¬ 
nous trees) reproduce themselves to an extent only 
lessened by the ravages of birds, insects, and other 
natural enemies ; and the places in which many of 
these seeds fall are anything but favourable in appear¬ 
ance to their growth. Nevertheless, Chestnuts will 
also succeed; but they are generally carefully kept 
through the winter on some dry loft, and sown in 
spring, when the genial warmth of the season starts 
them into growth, which they continue in until they 
have attained such a size as to withstand the rigour of 
the next winter. 
Now, the above cases illustrate that of many of our 
garden products, whose origin, if not tropical, are 
certainly from a more temperate region than our own. 
Scarlet Runner Beans are large, and apparently robust 
seeds, yet they will perish if placed in cold, damp 
earth, in winter, or too early spring. Other seeds are 
similarly influenced, by the same causes, in proportion 
to their capabilities, or otherwise, of withstanding 
cold; the fact of the matter being that seeds, ripened 
in a climate so much warmer than our own in summer, 
require one correspondingly milder in winter also, to 
vegetate, when committed to the ground, at once. But 
many of our garden vegetables are either indigenous 
plants improved, or plants from those parts of the 
continent different but little from us, in the general 
conditions which regulate the growth and well-being 
of the plairt. 
Carrots, Celery, the whole of the Cabbage tribe, 
and various other plants, are only improvements on 
seeds of an unpromising description ; and, conse¬ 
quently, their seeds are more hardy than some others. 
True it is that Carrot seed soon, too soon, perishes in 
the seed leaf, but this is often from the attacks of 
insects ; and, after all, it is likely we sow Carrot seed 
earlier than it would be done if left in a state of 
nature; for the seed does not easily part from the 
stem, and if left alone would, in all probability, hang 
until the proper time for its dispersion by the winds, 
or other cause ; whereas, in an artificial condition, it is 
cut, and harvested. On this point we, therefore, see 
the difference there often may be between the natural 
and horticultural mode of sowing seeds, and the want 
of success in the latter way may be often satisfactorily 
accounted for, as seeds refusing to vegetate and pros¬ 
per when sown at a contrary time of year to that 
suited to them. 
In reducing the above to something like a practical 
shape, it will be seen, that although most seeds sown 
by Nature fall on hard solid ground, yet this ground 
is very often accessible to the influences of air and 
moisture, by the upheaving it receives from winter 
frosts, and other causes. A firm flattened surface 
is also, on the whole, better, for many seeds, than a 
crumbly, loose one; the latter offering so much har¬ 
bour for slugs, and other garden enemies. Thus it is 
better, in many cases, to sow on a hard, firm bottom, 
with loose material underneath, for seeds sown at the 
time most suitable to their growth. Hence the power 
of sending their roots downwards, or laterally, through 
a stratum so solid, that it would be impossible for us 
to force anything so slender as the rootlets of such 
plants are. But when seeds are sown at times not so 
well adapted to their well being, it is then that some 
artificial assistance must be rendered them, to combat 
the difficulties of their position ; and as all plants of 
tropical, or highly temperate, origin are, more or less, j 
cultivated on an artificial principle, seeds of such 
plants must be treated with such care as most assimi- i 
lates with their natural habits. In this class, Kidney 
Beans, Scarlet Runners, and other plants, require to 
be sown when the ground is somewhat warmed by the 
spring or summer’s sun, otherwise they refuse to 
vegetate, and perish ; while Broad, Beans and Peas, 
being more hardy, survive such seasons with but very 
little injury. They suffer more from the scorching 
effects of a dry summer than the plants alluded to. 
But, as the purpose of sowing seeds was the one to 
which these notes were particularly devoted, it will be 
better to go into detail of those more especially culti¬ 
vated in the kitchen garden. 
Taking a cursory view of kitchen-garden seeds, it 
will generally be admitted that those of the Cabbage 
tribe germinate the quickest, more especially if sown 
at a time most suited for their growth — say moist 
weather in May or June; while seeds of Parsley, 
Celery, and others, are much longer in vegetating. 
Peas and Beans vegetate quickly, if warmth and 
