2 
How to Use Seeds 
Vick’s Garden and Floral Guide 
frequently sown broadcast. If several varieties are sown in the 
same flat, press a small stick in the soil to show the dividing line. 
Cover the seeds by sifting a little soil over them, and then water 
thoroughly, using a sprinkler with a fine rose so as not to wash out 
the seeds. Washing can also he effectively prevented by laying a 
piece of muslin over the soil and watering on top of the cloth. 
Leave the cloth on till the plants appear, and less watering will be 
required. 1 he flats should be examined each day to see that the 
surface soil does not dry out. Alter the plants are up great care 
must be taken in watering not to keep the surface wet and the soil 
beneath dry, as this is most certain to result in an attack of 
“ damping off.” The fungus producing this disease attacks the 
stem of the seedling near the surface of the ground, browning and 
shrivelling the stem till the plant lops over and finally dies. Water 
thoroughly, and then wait till the subsoil plainly needs more. Try 
to keep the subsoil in moist condition and at the same time have a 
thin layer of soil on the surface decidedly dry. 
Damping off is not likely to be troublesome if the soil is steril¬ 
ized, as may be readily done by baking it before using. Soil in 
hotbeds is best sterilized with steam, if steam under sixty pounds 
pressure is available, passing it for half an hour through perforated 
one-inch pipes which have been embedded about six inches deep in 
the soil. A cheaper method of sterilization, which will destroy all 
fungi, insects, and active eel-worms, but not the eggs of the latter, 
consists in drenching the soil with formalin, one quart to 50 gallons 
of water, using one gallon to each square foot of surface. 
As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, or begin to 
crowd, they must be “ pricked off” or transplanted into another flat 
1 x 2 inches apart, using a sharpened stick the size of a lead pencil 
for a dibber. The plants are commonly left to grow in this flat in 
a crowded condition until they are set out. Better tomato plants 
can be grown by potting them off from the flat when they begin to 
crowd, using tomato cans or berry boxes, if pots are not at hand, 
lin cans should be thrown into the fire until the seams melt npart. 
1 he cylinder of tin is then held together with a piece of string or 
wire. When the plant is to be moved a flat trowel or spade is run 
under the can and the whole readily lifted. Cut the wire or string 
and the can falls away, leaving the ball of earth intact. It is hard 
to preserve this ball if the bottom is left in the can, as the earth 
clings tightly to the sides, and removing will more or less disturb 
the roots of the plants. 
Transplanting. Choose a dull day if possible for this work, but 
if the plants are of good size and becoming crowded, do the work 
anyway. The very best time for transplanting is a few hours before 
a good shower, as the rain -settles the earth firmly about the roots, 
and the wetting keeps the plants from flagging. Some wait for a 
rain, and set out plants as soon afterwards as possible; but this is a 
far less favorable time than before, as the ground is eithertoo muddv 
or too hard, unless reworked, and the earth is not well settled until 
another rain. If plants are set in hot, dry. weather, they should be 
watered in, giving at least a pint to each plant. Where only a 
small number of plants are to be put out, begin operations the lat¬ 
ter part of the afternoon, so that the plants may have the cool air of 
night in'which to recover. Plants will flag much less if shaded a 
day or two by a shingle stuck on the south side, or a handful of 
lawn clippings placed over them. Plants from pots of course get 
no check, and need no protection. 
It is a mistake to attempt to save all the root system of seedlings, 
unless handled in pots, as the roots are usually so long as to inter¬ 
fere with rapid planting. It is much better to clip back the roots 
than crowd them into a hole, to become distorted and fairly 
strangled by later growth. If the top is well developed, shorten 
it too, to balance with the roots, and the ease in handling will more 
than offset what slight advantage there might be from longer roots. 
One must be careful not to expose the roots of the plants to the 
air and sun any more than necessary. Keep the plants covered 
with a wet gunny sack from the time they are taken from the seed 
bed until wanted for planting. If some time is likely to elapse be¬ 
tween taking up and setting out, the roots may be further protected 
by dipping them in clay water. ( 
Seed inoculation. Cultures of bacteria are now on the market 
for inoculating the seeds of peas and beans just before planting. 
These organisms have the power of fixing the free nitrogen of the 
air and making it available for plant food. They produce the 
familiar swellings or nodules on the roots of pot plants. Some 
cheap means of greatly increasing the number of these bacteria on 
the roots is, of course, very desirable, but tests by the Cornell Sta¬ 
tion the past summer have failed to show that inoculation produces 
any noticeable increase in the number or size of the nodules, or in 
the vigor of the plants. There might possibly be some effect on 
very poor soils, where peas and beans had never grown, but on 
ordinary loam, there seems to be none. 
Ornamental and Flowering 
For Constant and Brilliant Bloom. Asters in all varieties, Sweet Alys- 
sum, all the dwarf Cannas, Calliopsis, Eschscholtzia, scarlet Geraniums, 
Nasturtium, Petunia, Phlox Drummondii, Portulaca, Sweet Peas, Verbena, 
Double Zinnia. 
Low-Growing Plants for Masses of Color. White—Sweet Alyssum .white 
Ageratum, white Brachycome, white Candytuft, Vick's double white Phlox 
Drummondii, white Portulaca, white Verbena. 
Blue—Ageratum Swanlcy blue, blue Brachycome, Heliotrope, Lobelia, 
blue Verbena. 
Red—Carmine and Crimson Candytuft, Geranium, Phlox Drummondii 
brilliant scarlet, Phlox grandiflora scarlet and dwarf Fireball, Poppy, red 
Portulaca, Tropaeolum King of Tom Thumbs and Carter's Tom Thumb and 
crimson varieties if desired, red Verbena. 
Yellow—Gaillardiu, orange and yellow Eschscholtzia, French Marigold and 
especially the variety Tagetes signata pumila, Portulaca aurea vera, yellow 
and Lady Bird Tropa:olum. 
Plants for Window Boxes. Abutilon, Sweet Alyssum, Begonia, Fuchsia, 
Geranium, Grevillea robusta, Ivy Geranium, English and German Ivy, Lobelia, 
Maurandya, Mignonette, Petunia, Schizanthus, Thunbergia, Tropseolum. 
Plants for Cemeteries. Anemone Whirlwind and Japonica, Astilbe 
Japonica, Achillea the Pearl, Eulalias, Hermerocallis flava, Hydrangea pan- 
iculata grandiflora, Lilies, Lily of the Valley, Day Lily or Funkia alba, Chinese 
Peonies, Polyantha Roses, Rose Madame Plantier, Spirea Van Houttei, Vinca 
minor. 
Plants for Special Purposes 
Dwarf Plants for Edgings and Borders. Ageiatum, Sweet Alyssum, 
Alternanthcra, dwarf Candytuft, Coleus, Double Daisies, Golden Feverfew, Lit¬ 
tle Gem Feverfew, Heliotrope, Lobelia, Mignonette, Mysotis, Pansies, Phlox 
Drummondii, Pinks, Veronica, Vinca, Violets. 
Fragrant Flowers. Asperula odorata. Sweet Alyssum, Candytuft, Carna¬ 
tion, Clematis paniculata, Honeysuckle, Heliotrope, Lily of the Valley, Lily, 
Mignonette, Mirabilis, Nicotiana affinis, Pansy, Sweet Peas, Pink, Rocket, 
Rose, Sweet William, Ten Weeks Stock, Tropaeolum, Tuberose, Verbena, 
Violet, Wall-flower. 
Climbing Plants. Ampclopsis, Aristolochia, Adlumia cirrhosa, Bignonia 
radicans, Convolvulus major, Cobcea scandens. Cypress vine, Clematis, 
Cardiospermum (Balloon vinci, Chinese Matrimony Vine, Chinese Yam or 
Cinnamon Vine, Dolichos, the Gourd family, Humulus Japonicus, Honey¬ 
suckle, Ipomcea of different varieties and especially I. Bona Nox and the 
Brazilian Morning Glory, English Ivy, Maurandya, Perennial Peas, Sweet 
Peas, Climbing Roses, Thunbergia, Tropaeolum majus, Wistaria. 
Plants for Vases and Baskets. Ageratum, Sweet Alyssum, Little Gem, 
and Carpet of Snow, Abutilon, Begonia, Canna, Cobcea, Coleus, Cuphea 
(Cigar plant), Draccna indivisa, Fuchsias, Grevillea robusta, Geraniums, Helio¬ 
tropes. Lobelia, Lantana, Mimulus, Myosotis, Maurandya, Manettia vine, 
Madeira vine, Nierembergia gracilis, Oxalis floribunda, Portulaca, Petunia, 
Schizanthus, Tropaiolum, Thunbergia, variegated forms of Vinca major, 
Veronica. 
