Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-04-16
. farm and ato,,seltold.
practical Hint. ON Gardening.


The melting Of the snow and ice re-
minds us that "winter is past, the rain
| is over and gone, the time of the sing
| ing of birds is come" and the time of
planting seeds il also come so a few
| hints on the subject may not come amiss.
First prepare your soil properly. If
you have no loan laid away for this pur-
pose, take, any warm day, the upper sur
face of loam from your richest garden
beds. Bake 1t in the oven in an old tin
pan; when so dry as to crumble In your
hands, add one-third white sand; New
all your pots, boxes or pans with the
mixture. The pots made for planting
seed, with large holes for drainage, are
the best, but salt, raisin or cigar boxes
will answer. Fill to the brim with the
heated soil, press down firmly, and when
milk-warm plant your seed. Ii large
enough, place them in one at @ time,
about an inch apart; if very small, like
petunias, sprinkle over the soil, press
them in gently with the hand, then
sprinkle on sand. Take piece OF an
old flannel, double it, and lay on the
seeds, pressing it down at the corners ;
then water with lukewarm water over
the flannel. Put your pots or boxes in
some warm place, on the shelf of range
or on mantel-piece under stove-pipe.
| The kitchen is the best place, for the
steam from the kettles keeps the air
moist.
Leave the boxes there until the seeds
begin to push, giving lukewarm water
over the flannel every day, then put in
a sunny window, and if the nights are
chilly, return the boxes to the mantel-
shelf or back of stove. This way of
planting rarely fails the earth being
warmed through starts the seeds as well
| 4 LII l,A An. VanI fa
the cracking of the top of the soil, also
keeps up uniform heat. 1 planted to-
mato seed in this manner the fifth of
March, and they had all pushed through
by the tenth Could hot bed do bet
ter? Verbena seed, which all admit are
very hard to terminate, showed their
heads in one week! All kind of seeds
treated in this manner willgrow, and we
shall not hear SO many complaints about
the seedsmen. Half the non-success in
seed raising arises from the ignorance OF
the raiser. Some seeds will grow nc
matter what treatment they receive
The tomato will germinate anywhere
but half the delicate flower seeds refuse
to see light on account of the manner OF
1 planting. Now is the time to remem-
Der the old hymn ..........
| In the morning SOW thy seed,
| i"" ti at noon hold not thy hand.
If the amateur gardener desires hand.
some show of flowers in the summer.
/ will give list of indispensables fol
the young amateur. '"The catalogues
fairly bewilder us with their huge lists o
desirables, and mono of us would desire
to grow one quarter part Of them: Truf
fant's sasters; Drummond's phlox; dwar
asters; double portulacar rose asters
salpiglessis, finest mixed; white anC
rose acroclinium; double dwarfscabious
alyssum, sweet; schizanthus amaran
thus melancholious, French stocks
double blotched balsams tagetes signati
pumile; candy-tuft; white and purple
tropeolums clarkia, white pink; whit
lavia; dianthus, fore plens; sweet peas
China pink, double; mignonette; gyp
sophia muralis; sanvitalia procumbens
larkspur, dwarf and rocket; double zin
ninas; lobelia speciosa; lychnis has &c
ana; mimulus tigridoides euphorbi'
variegata; nemophila; perilla nankin
ensis; pansser; petunia, Buchanan
hybrids.
SEEps.-Now is the time for farmer
and gardeners to look over their stock o
seeds, and see If they are well provided
against the time of need. When plant
ing time comes, not moment should b.
lost in hunting up seeds. If you ar
short of seed and hnye a plenty of som