The Right Way to Grow Seed 
CONDITIONS THAT ENHANCE GERMINATION—BAKING THE SOIL—THE DEPTH TO SOW- 
NURSING THE YOUNG AND DELICATE PLANTS—MODERN MECHANICS OF TRANSPLANTING 
S. Leonard Bastin 
M UCH of the success of the garden will 
depend upon giving the plant a good 
start in life. On this account the question 
of seed sowing is one which should receive a 
good deal more attention than is usually 
given. It will well repay any grower to study 
the conditions under which seeds most readily 
germinate and develop, and then to do his 
utmost to provide favorable surroundings. 
There is, of course, a right and a wrong 
season for the sowing of every kind of seed, 
and such information is usually to be found 
on the packets. But of almost equal im¬ 
portance is the choosing of the right kind of 
weather. Dry weather, such as sooner or 
later comes with every spring, should be 
chosen for the business. No time will be 
gained and, in many cases, 
much will be lost by scat¬ 
tering the seeds when the 
soil is heavy with damp. 
Germination will be rapid in 
a light and comparatively 
dry soil, but it will be slow 
and may not take place at 
all on water-logged ground. 
Anything, like the addition 
of sand, which can be done 
to lighten the surface soil 
of the border will be very 
helpful in enabling a free 
growth of the little plants. 
Remember that the more 
freely the little roots can 
push about, the better chance 
will the plants have of es¬ 
tablishing themselves. When sowing seed in¬ 
doors in pots, pans or boxes, it is possible to 
prepare the soil very perfectly. Whatever is 
used as a base, a liberal allowance of sand is de¬ 
sirable, and the mixture should be passed 
through a fine sieve so that all lumps are made 
to disappear. A very important precaution 
is the sterilizing of the soil before use. Or¬ 
dinary soil always contains the spores of 
mould, and may very well have a quantity 
of slugs’ eggs as well. Under the shelter of 
a glass house these pests rapidly develop, and 
will play havoc with the baby plants. The 
danger may be prevented either by baking 
the soil in an iron tray over a furnace or 
pouring boiling water over it. In any case, 
the mould must be moist when it is used. 
Of course, in the case of pots and pans it is 
most important that the drainage should be 
in perfect order. Some gardeners half fill 
their pots with broken crocks before putting 
in the soil. 
Nearly all gardeners sow their seeds too 
thickly. An idea seems to be 
abroad that it is necessary 
to sow a great quantity of 
seed, on the supposition that 
a large number will not ger¬ 
minate at all. This might 
have been the case a genera¬ 
tion ago, when there was a 
great deal of bad, and even 
dead, seed about. Nowadays 
the merchants of high stand¬ 
ing all sell seeds which show 
a considerable measure of 
vitality; indeed, every effort 
is made to ensure all the 
seeds being alive. Thus, to 
sow thickly is to secure a 
cluster of crowded plants 
which, from birth, jostle one 
another in an endeavor to get enough light. 
These specimens will always be weaklings. Thin 
sowing, on the other hand, will result in strong 
plants which can be relied upon to yield the 
very best results. Do not sow direct from the 
packet. Pour a little quantity of seed, if it is 
Small seedlings are washed out of the soil if 
watered in the ordinary way. Try stand¬ 
ing the pot in a bowl of water 
The seeds in flats should be properly labeled and arranged in an orderly fashion. Keep 
ing the kinds together simplifies work 
Large seeds are best planted singly. They can be pushed into 
place with stick or lead-pencil 
Loss of moisture can be checked by 
covering seedlings with a glass 
Much of the success of raising plants from seed, especially annuals, 
depends upon thin sowing. Use a spoon as shown 
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