The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-03-07
IlornI Department.
What May BE- Done inthe Flower
Garden Now.
BY carr c 3. benson.

March Is upon Us. an i l. full time
for Spring work. if we are TO be re-
warded with floral treasures next sum
mer. Beds may be made ready for
hardy ANIMALS and nearly all perennials
! and biennials now, and until corn
~planting season when tender ANIMALS
may be sOwn.
Roses from open ground should be
planted during the present month 4;
after that it will be preferable TO use
plants that are pot grown, which may
be transplanted at any season, with a
little care.
Evergreens are best moved from
now until May, if mulched Well after
wards. An evergreen never grows off
more promptly than when placed in
good rich soil ana firmly planted, just
before the buds for new growth have
fairly opened with young leaves.
Keeps the roots moist until planted.
that is the only secret.
Gladiolus, lilies, tritomas, tuberoses,
tigridias. amaryllis, valletas and SINH
lar bulbs and tuber5 may be planted
now. and viii he stronger. besides
blooming much earlier in the season,
than If one waits to follow the North
ern calendar. Plant at the usual
depth from the level surface Of the
garden proper, then heap four inches
of soil in a little mound which is to be
cleared away about the middle of
April. You need not fear if the spot
be sunny and well enriched that your
t~uberoses will be cut off mex fall before
the buds can open, that is to say, if
YOU have taken the precution to plant
blooming roots. But more Of that bye
and-bye.
SAVING FLOWER SEEDS.
Perhaps nothing is more mysterious
to young cultivators Of flowers than
success of some " lucky" people and
the failure of certain children of an
evil star, in the management and re-
suits Of the annual garden. Nov this
very simple matter has a few require
ments, very few and simple as we said,
bat indispensable.
First of all. having selected what
more, let it be honestly dug, not
scratched over; spade deeply, fork up
well, and break to fineness, rejecting
all intractable clods. Enrich it with
old well rotted manure, the best of all
being sods taken from pasture land
and thrown up to rot. But do not be
too mathematical as some of the books
have it, with one eighth of this and
one sixteenth of that-everybody
knows what a good fair soil is, and
with moderately good treatment
flowers will grow as well as though the
component parts We're deity weighed
in chemical scales. But if heavy add
sand, if very light some cay will be
beneficial, if in a very old garden and
inclined to be sour some lime Will be
of advantage, but the latter should
have been applied last fall.
WHEN AND WHERE TO SOW.
Not under the drip of trees, or in
the dense shade, but where the sun
can give color and strength to your
glowing beds. Not on a rainy day, or
even when the ground has the de-
licious moisture of spring, after the
rain of the day before. herein lies the
failure very often. Wait for dry
ground or your seeds viii either rot,
or may become too dry to g~erminate.
That seems very good nonsense to say
that seeds viii be too dry in wet
ground. but it happens to be the truth.
We have very little time for the phil
osophy of planting, being occupied
with the art. but the explanation seems
to be hat in wet soils the inter-mole-
cular spaces are large: that is, the
particles are comparatively far apart.
the water occupying the intervening
space. which leaves dry cavities, so to
speak, after it drains away, and the
soil cannot be properly compressed
about the seed, on account of the
presence of the water. But a soil
nearly dry. with barely enough mois-
ture for adhesion upon pressure can be
made to cover the seed properly, and
the PARTICLES being pressed closely.
the remaining spaces Will act like
capillary tubes, and supply the seed
and the tender plantlet with the need
full moisture.
But be the cause what it may. it is
good practice not TO plant unless a bit
of soil will crumble easily between the
fingers. Do not plant deep the thick
ness of the seed itself is the usual rule.
but that viii hardly do for our warm
spring suns. You Will not far wrong
to plant all small seeds at least twice
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