Cause Of Failure In Seeds

Vick, in his " Illustrated Catalogue and Florul Uuide t'nr 1S7O," siiys : ■■II' tcd too doep, thoy ■p, eold eayth, for the want of wimi'.th nowssary to theirgeriniMiïtion, ot, aftir ESEmination, perisa bcfore the tendel" shoots can reach tbc sun and air ; 80 that which was desjgned for their support and nourishment prores their gnvvos, "If the soil is a stiff clayy i is often too colil at the tóuiö the seeds ure plantod to effect their germination ; for it must be umlerstood that warmth and nioisture are necessary to the germination of secds. Noither of these will do alone. Seeds may be kept in a warm, dry room, in dry s;md or r;itb, and thoy will not jnw Thoy may lx placed iu duinp earthj and kept in a low Eemperature, and they will mest likely rot, thotigh eomc seeds will iviuain donnant a long time onder these circumstances. But placo them in mosst earth, in a warm room, and they will coninicnco gTowth at once. Another dsfficulty with newvy soil is that it becomes huid on tho siirfábe, and thispxuTunts the young planfs from " coming up ; " or, if, during showery weather, they happen to get abovo the surface, they bacome locked in, and makc bat little advanecment unless tho cultivator is careful to keep the crust well broken ; and in doing this the young plajits are ofton destroyed. If stiff, the soil wh'ero flne seed are sown should be made mellow, partieularly on 'thn surfaee, by the additkm of sand and Kght mold. M If seeds are grown in rough, lumpy ground, a portion will bo buried under tho clods, and will never row ; and niany that start, not fiñdin'g a ni soil for tlioir tender roots, will perish. A few may escape these und flourish. " All of tho foregoing cases show good rotison for failure, but títere is one cause which is not so apparent. The soil, we will strppose, is well prepared, fine as it can be made, and of that loamy or sandy character best fittod for small seeds. Wc will suppose that the seeds were sown on the surface, with a little earth sifted over tBem, am} that tías was not done until the season was so far advanccd as to i'uinish tho warinth neecssary to secure vegetation. Under these very fuvoruble oinumstances many seeds will giow ; and if the weather is both warm aïld sboweiy, very few will fail. But if, as is very common at the season of the year we sow our seeds, xre have a succession of cold rain storms, many of the more tender kinds will perish. A night's frost will ruin many more If, however, the Weather süotfld prove warm, and without showers, tho surftice will becoine very dry, and the seeds having so slight a covering will bc dried up and perish as soon as they ger minate, and before the roots attain suffieient size and strength to go down where the soil is more moist. Of course the more finer and delooato seeds, and those natural to a moro favorable climate, suffer ïuorc tkan those that are robust." ïjcPiciganJUgtt$