NORTH SHQGRE BREEZE 
Feb. 2, 1917. 
We are offering an unusual collection of 
PERENNIAL PLANTS 
And a choice lot of Conifers. 
NORTH SHORE NURSERIES & FLORIST CO., Beverly Farms 
F. E. COLE, Prop. 
Telephone, Beverly Farms 43 
We shall be better prepared than usual to store plants for the winter. 
Pelle hat anditloweto Plant 
William N. Craig, Supt. of Faulkner Farm, 
Brookline, Gives Advice to Horticulturists 
XPERT advice on sowing was 
given by Superintendent William 
N. Craig of the Faulkner Farm, in 
Brookline, in an address before the 
Massachusetts Horticultural society. 
He discussed the quality of seeds, 
how to prepare the soil for them and 
how to plant them. The information 
he imparted is valuable to all inter- 
ested in vegetable and flower grow- 
ing: 
~The great European war,” he said, 
“has seriously impaired the supply oi 
inany seeds on which America has in 
the past depended; particularly is this 
the case with flower seeds; but vege- 
tables are likewise affected. Block- 
ades prevent more than a fractional 
part of our average annual importa- 
tions from arriving, embargoes by 
certain of the belligerent nations pre- 
vent the exportations of certain vari- 
cties, and as America is as yet unpre- 
pared to produce seeds of as pure 
cuality and moderate in cost as many 
of those received from Europe, there 
are likely to be acute shortages in 
certain varieties this season, while the 
seeds will probably be less pure in 
cuality and there will be more errors 
in nomenclature. Purchasers of seeds 
should remember these things, place 
their seed orders early and be patient 
pending deliveries. 
“We now produce in America an 
immense quanity of both flower and 
vegetable seeds, and could no doubt 
profitably raise many more, but not 
all that we need. The countries of the 
world will continue to be more or less 
inter-dependent on each other for 
seeds as for many other necessary 
commodities. Certain favorable soil 
and climatic conditions are necessary 
for the successful production of ail 
seeds, and even we, with our big 
country and much diversified climate, 
cannot secure all of these vital re- 
quirements. 
“The annual wastage in purchased 
seeds is tremendous.  Particulary is 
this the case with the large and in- 
cieasing army of amateur cultivators, 
who derive much pleasure while mak- 
ing their seed selections during the 
winter months from the numerous 
catalogues, and who invariably start 
their gardening with considerable en- 
thusiasm—which in too many cases 
becomes evanescent before many of 
the crops come to maturity. Much 
seed is annually lost by improper con- 
ditions of the soil, at sowing time, by 
seeding far too thickly and not infre- 
quently sowing in drills in which 
chemical fertilizers have been scat- 
tered and not properly incorporated 
with the soil. Seedsmen are annually 
blamed for many “crop failures” 
which are traceable to seed sowing in 
drills too heavily fertilized, in which 
the chemicals have not been properly 
mixed with mother earth. 
Points of merit to be considered 
about good farm and garden seeds 
are: That they are able to produce 
vigorous or normal plants, that they 
are true to strain or name, and carry 
no impurities or adulterations; in the 
case of grass seeds adulterations are 
still too ‘abundant, but conditions, 
thanks to Government inspection, are 
steadily improving. Whether seeds 
have virility depends in great meas- 
ure on the condition of the plants 
producing them, also on their age and 
the way they have been grown and 
stored. 
“Certain seeds, like melons, beets, 
carrots, rape, squash, turnip and cab- 
bage, have good germinating qualities 
for five or six years, in fact ten-year- 
old seeds of some of these will grow. 
and I have in mind a case which came 
under my own personal notice thirty- 
five years ago, when I had occasion 
to sow seeds of a one-time favorite 
melon named Munro’s Little Heath in 
a hot-bed; the seeds had been kept 
for over eighteen years, yet they 
germinated well and the melons fruit- 
ed satisfactorily. On the other hand 
sweet corn, millet, parsnip, wheat, 
onion, soy beans, peas and oats have 
lost their power of germination in 
large measure in two or three years. 
Much of the success or failure in 
seed sowing depends on the proper 
preparation of the beds, for all out- 
door crops; a really vigorous start is 
a long step towards a good crop. The 
correct preparation of the soil has for 
its main object a good seed bed, the 
increasing of root pasturage, and the 
amelioration of the soil chemically 
and physically. If seeds germinate 
freely it should be in close contact 
with a thoroughly pulverized and later 
firmly settled soil. 
“Hot-beds or cold frames are in- 
valuable for starting many vegetables 
and flower seeds in; even a very 
small garden should contain one. It 
is best to excavate it to a depth of 
12-18 inches, place warm manure 
mixed with leaves in this, watering 
it if at all dry and then thoroughly 
tramping it; over this place four in- 
inches of soil consisting preferably of 
loam and very old well rotted and pul- 
verized manure; use some leaf mold 
if soil is at all heavy, screen at least 
the upper half of the soil, draw shal- 
low drills and in them sow seeds and 
very lightly cover for early cabbage, 
cauliflower, lettuce, tomato, eggplant, 
celery and pepper. It is well to re- 
member that seeds sown in cold 
frames or in flats or pans in a green- 
house need much lighter covering than 
the same varieties sown outdoors. 
“Tf birds or rodents trouble peas, 
beans, squash, sweet corn and other 
crops, roll the seeds in a mixture of 
coal tar and lime before sowing; one 
taste usually suffices for either 
feathered or furry foes. The coating 
of tar and lime will not affect the 
germinating qualitiets of the seeds 
treated. Mice are sometimes very 
