The Practical Guide to Floriculture (Classic Reprint)

Light, open soils absorb moisture as a sponge does. This is wliy the hoe should boused on the garden-bed in a dry season. You will see the benefit of having the soil in this condition if you apply water. Every drop of it will be takenin just where and as soon as it is applied, but on the crusted-over bed a large amount will run away before the crust is soak-d through, and no water can get down to the roots ti.l this 18 done. Therefore, stir the soil often and thoroughly ia a dry season. Save the suds from washing day and the slop basin and empty tbem on your flowerbeds. They are too valuable to throw away. Oneof theessnntialsof a good garden is good seed. You should always aim to get the best that is to be had. Never buy the cheap stuff which is freely offered. It is always sure to prove dear in the end. Most of it is old seed, bought at a low price, and it cannot be depended on. Buy only of those dealers who have a reputation for hoDO sty and fair dealing. They handle only such seed as they know will prove satisfaciory. 1would advise sowing seeds of most plants in pots or boxes out of doors, rather than in the bed where you intend them to grow, because you have them under better control when young when sown in this way. If sown in the beds, fine seeds often fail to germinate because they an covered too deeply. Weeds are sure to appear as soon as you give them a chance to start, and if you sow flower-seeds in the beds, it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to tell which le which at first, and by the time you are able to distinguish weeds from flowers, the former have got the start of the latter. If seed is sown in boxes, this is not likely to happen. In transplanting seedlings from boxes, there is no waste of plants. You use enough to till your bds, and no moro, and what you have left can be given to your friends, or to those who cannot afiford to b
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)