PUDOR’S DESCRIPTIVE SEED LIST 
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GERMINATION OF DELPHINIUM SEEDS 
19 
The first plantings of Delphinium seeds invariably bring reports of failures 
and, usually, seed or soil are blamed. The illustration shows one of half a dozen 
seed boxes and seems to offer a worth-while method. The secret, if there be one, 
is merely first care. Delphinium seed must have low, steady temperatures from 
10 to 15 days, with constant surface moisture, darkness and apparently company, 
for best results. The 6 varieties of seed shown could not have come so evenly 
save through planting methods. The soil used was leafmold and sand, with a little 
loam to stiffen it. Spraying with a mildew remedy was used to prevent damp¬ 
ing off. 
Not a single plant perished prior to transplanting. The box was filled within 
one inch of top, wetted thoroughly (lots of drainage was provided) then filled 
to brim and pressed evenly. The seed was sown in rows and merely pressed in 
to insure equal depth and covered with sifted leafmold and powdered sphagnum. 
An empty flat served as a cover when stood on the north side of a wall. The seed¬ 
lings were up on the eleventh day, the cover being removed on the thirteenth 
day. The box was brought up to a lath frame on the eighteenth day and fully 
exposed on the twenty-fifth day. 
This method enables one to note first evidence of damping off, permits soil 
stirring between rows and prompt detection note of slugs or sowbugs, besides 
permitting equal development of every plant. When sown broadcast in a large 
bed, none of these advantages exist. A few flats are enough for largest plantings. 
Pricked out when true leaves first appear, the roots are just beginning to branch 
and plantlets fall apart easily and never halt in growth. Sown broadcast, one 
cutworm, or one damping off spot may, before notice, ruin many plants. Never 
delay pricking out after true leaves appear.— (Vanderbilt.) 
A flat of Prize Winner “Pedigreed” Delphinium Seedlings, containing over 
500 plants, sown September 1 and photographed October 25. Seedlings will be 
planted in the open field in March and will bloom profusely during next Septem¬ 
ber and October. What new surprises will they bring? The flats are wintered 
in a COLD greenhouse and the tops will freeze down completely. 
Dear Sirs: 
Shipment of plants arrived 
are beginning to grow already, 
September 10th. Plants were 
and I am much pleased with 
September 14, 1934. 
in excellent condition. They 
them. 
MRS. L. A. R. 
