THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
107 
vegetation has its uses, and the means provided for the 
reproduction of plants are abundant and simple. 
Many, if not most, flower-seeds require no more skill 
in planting than do Peas or Beans, for they are as large, 
and as easily germinated. But very many are small, and 
some extremely small, and if planted too deeply they 
will not shoot, or will shoot very feebly. 
To grow, or start flower-seeds properly, select a free- 
working and rich piece of ground— sandy loam is best, 
and a stiff clay the worst; let it be spaded deeply, 
incorporating very thoroughly-rotted manure, i. e., 
manure full two years old, and which will crumble in 
the hand fine as sand. With a fine-toothed rake re¬ 
duce every lump and bring the surface, to the finest 
state of pulverization. If the seed is very small, it had 
better be mixed with a little sand, or dry soil, to 
increase the bulk. The sowing will be easier and 
more equal. Scatter the seed upon the bed; then, 
with the hands or a fine garden sieve, sift fresh 
or mellow earth upon it from a quarter to half an 
inch in depth. To bring the earth compactly about 
the seed, spat the bed with moderate strokes with 
the back of a spade, or adopt Mr. Henderson’s plan: 
after the man who sows the seed follows another, 
who, with the ball of the right foot, presses down 
his full weight on every inch of soil in the drill 
where the seed has been sown. If the weather is very 
dry, water the bed at evening with a watering-pot, using 
a fine rose in order nob to wash or disturb the surface. 
Keep the plants from weeds, and when they are one or 
two inches high, they may be transplanted to the 
places where they are to stand. Balsams, Petunias, 
Zinnias, Gaillardias, and, indeed, most flowers do 
better by being transplanted. The operation cliqcks the 
luxuriance of the plant, and increases its tendency to 
flower. 
When seeds are planted where they are to remain, 
which is frequently the case, the treatment is precisely 
the same as before, except they are thinned out, instead 
of being transplanted. No mistake is more frequent 
among inexperienced gardeners than that of suffering 
too many plants to stand together. One is reluctant to 
pull up thriving plants; or he does not reflect that what 
may seem room enough while the plant is young, will 
be very scanty when it is grown. Over-crowding has 
destroyed more plants and spoiled the beautiful effect 
in the garden that plants are expected to produce, than 
all other causes combined. It is better by far to have 
one Balsam in its integrity, than a yard full of spindling, 
starved specimens. 
WHY SEEDS FAIL TO GROW. 
There are many reasons why seeds fail to germinate, 
or fail to grow after germinating; one of the principal, 
and a vital one, we have stated in our paper, “ The use 
of the feet in sowing and planting.” Many persons do 
not seem to clearly understand why the use of the feet 
is so important in gardening operations, although will¬ 
ing to admit the advantage to be derived from the same, 
because of our assertion; at the same time they desire 
our reasons in a more explanatory form. We will give 
them. There is stored up in every perfect seed a latent 
germ, the embryo of a new life, the development of 
which is conditional upon other natural causes. The 
influences that act upon the seed to cause growth are 
heat, ail - and moisture, and without a proportionate 
quantity of each there can be no plant life. Now, it 
follows that when a seed is put into the ground and 
loosely covered with light dry soil, it does not come in 
contact with sufficient moisture to moisten the seed, 
neither is there sufficient heat, because of the too 
great circulation of air around the seed, to produce the 
chemical changes upon which vegetable growth de¬ 
pends. 
Again, when we place a seed into the earth it im¬ 
mediately commences growth in two opposite directions, 
upwards into the atmosphere, and downwards into the 
earth—the two sources from which it obtains its food. 
It is a mistake to suppose that the first root the seed 
puts forth furnishes the young plant with food. It does 
not; it simply holds the plant in place until the true 
roots, by which the plant is fed, are formed. The 
first, or seed-leaves, contain the food of the infant plant 
until its true leaves and roots are formed, and do not 
perform the functions of the plant’s true leaves. 
The feeding roots of any plant or tree are delicate 
white fibres, so small as rarely to be seen with the 
naked eye, and are never seen by the casual observer. 
Now when these roots are formed, if the soil is not 
pressed firmly around the main root, these feeders have 
nothing to live upon; they must come in immediate 
contact with moisture, or the warm dry air will destroy 
them, and the whole plant will stand still until new 
roots are formed, or, in the meantime, perish. Herein 
lies the benefit of using the feet in seed-sowing. 
In thinning out plants, when the seed has been sown 
too thickly, the feet should always be used, in order to 
press the soil firmly about the remaining plants. 
DEEP PLANTING 
is another frequent cause of the seed’s failure to germi¬ 
nate. The importance of more care in this direction 
cannot be over-estimated. Our observation, and ex¬ 
periments made in planting various seeds at different 
depths, show some wonderful results. Take, for in¬ 
stance, Sweet-Corn, and cover from one-half inch to five 
inches in depth. The former will germinate without a 
loss of five per cent., and the latter will not grow five 
per cent., and exact ratio between will be kept up. The 
cause for the difference is, that the conditions of growth 
are not complied with—the deficit being heat, which, at 
the season for Corn planting, cannot be furnished at so 
great a depth from the surface. Again, Corn planted 
at a depth of two or three inches will not make as ra¬ 
pid or healthy growth as when covered only half an 
inch, for this reason: Corn makes two sets of roots— 
surface and underground, the one being quite as im¬ 
portant as the other. The surface roots form just above 
or at the first joint of the plant, which is just above the 
kernel. If Corn is planted three inches in depth, as 
soon as it has used* up the food that is stored up in the 
