April, 1915 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
291 
up and bow away, grass catchers should 
always be used. Raking tends to injure the 
grass, and should be avoided unless used 
in the form of a lawn cleaner, which is a 
system of three rapidly revolving rakes 
that pick up all sorts of litter, leaves, etc., 
in addition to the grass clippings, leaving 
the grass standing upright and free from 
foreign matter. The suction created by 
the revolving rakes clean the lawn not un¬ 
like the vacuum cleaner does the carpet. 
It is easy to operate, and with one man will 
accomplish more and better work than 
four men with hand rakes. — M. B. Mc- 
Kibben. 
The Right Way to Grow Seed 
(Continued from page 243) 
are dead if they do not all come up at once. 
Out of doors it is impossible to control 
the weather conditions, although by means 
of shelter the seedbed may be protected. 
Indoors the question of watering arises. 
It is very important to avoid soaking the 
soil until germination is an actual fact. 
The best way of all is to have the soil 
nicely moist at the start, and then, in the 
event of a fairly quick germination, no 
further watering will be required. A 
good plan is to cover the boxes, pans or 
pots with sheets of glass, admitting air 
daily. This protection prevents the soil 
from drying too rapidly. If, on the ger¬ 
mination of the seed, it seems that the 
sowing has been too thick, it is an excel¬ 
lent plan to thin out at once. Of course, 
the half-developed plants will have to be 
thrown away, but it is worth while 
making the sacrifice, seeing that those 
which are left behind will be much more 
sturdy than would be the case if they 
grew for a week or two in a crowded con¬ 
dition. 
As soon as the little plants appear on 
the scene plenty of light is of supreme 
importance. Making allowance for the 
shading which may be needful indoors 
from bright sunshine, young plants can¬ 
not be in too light a position. Without 
light, the green leaf cannot carry out its 
wonderful business of extracting the car¬ 
bon from the atmosphere, but in another 
way a strong illumination is needful. In 
dark or in shady places plants tend to 
grow up towadds a lighter position; thus 
they become lanky weaklings which would 
never yield good results. Light has a 
retarding effect on actual growth, and thus 
plants in a light position are sturdy, with 
strong stems and an abundance of leaves. 
This augurs well for the future of the 
plant, and all gardeners should follow the 
advice of the books, and put their seed¬ 
lings on the top shelf of the greenhouse. 
Young and delicate plants will want close 
watching under glass, especially in the 
bright days of spring. The sun at these 
times is very powerful, and unless a cer¬ 
tain amount of protection is given a great 
deal of damage will result. Sheets of 
paper cast over the pots or pans are the 
handiest, seeing that these may be ad¬ 
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