Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-05-12

For the past thirty years ne hare
learned > Eroat deal about seed sowing,
md there u plenty to learn vet The
seodEnaen get good deal of blame for
things that fhey are ~ innocent Of rs is
newborn babe There are plenty Of
poor seed sold, It Is true, but Il il only
poor m variety, not In terminating qnal-
Ines a friend last year bought seed
from Two pa1iess one sold his seed for
under ono third less than the other, but
the high pTiced seed Was worth more
than Eve tunes the lov-prsceE, when
they were grown, for scarce enc In Eve
were Anything Ike what they ought to
be- Cut Cd two acres of ca.bbages there
we're nearly nh kinds, but mostly the
cheap old worthless sorts; this seed was
bought At ESQ Per pound For the
second batch % pound WIS paid and,
rs the owner said, were cheaper even II
he had to pay more, for the seed was
fTne TO name and nearly every plant
raised and headed well.
Cheap seed Of any kind Is often rery
dear, and 1t - far better TO par for good
seed and have what we want, than be
growing lot of poor stuff, for good
plants only take mp the room that poor,
unsatisfactory things do
Much seed Is lost by careless sowing,
whether It Is good or bsd, and often the
scotsman is blamed for what is really
the sowerss fanlt-
"A good rule Tor sowing is TO put seed
Eve times its own depth in the soil For
example, II q pea or bean be, say,
quarter OF an inch In diameter, ii NAV
be covered one inch and quarter with
soil, and SO In proportion for ether seed
Small seeds, snch as lobelias, musk, por-
tulsca, celeTy, or Others are best sown
on the surface, and merely worked into
the soil with the open hand or q fat
piece of wood; but however sown, the
seed should be made to feel the soil
that is, the soil should be made firm
about the seed Ii large fields or lar1e
patches are sown q roller Is an indispea-
sible thing to roll over the ground where
the seed has been sown- VERY small
seeds are best suwn In boxes about three
inches in depth, eighteen inches wide,
and about two fest long, SO IS to be
handy TO carry around. About two
inches in depth Of soil is enough to put
IN the boxes TO sow upon Let the soil
be made firm with q fat piece of wood
or the open haaad Sow on the surface,
and ii the seed Is ike musk or lobelia 1t
Is best worked In with the hand. as a
ron-h piece of wood would be likely to
carry of part of the seed.
A good compost for sowing seed on
can be made by gathering few old
drepPings from cows that have lain ex-
posed TO the weather for some months,
and If q little leaf mold is handy, or
some spent hops from q brewery or tea
leaves, If not allowed to mold. take any
OF these with ANY common sod and mix
equal portions OF each together TO raise
seed upon Let the droppings be broken
up as fine as possible, and all be well
mixed together If leaf mold, hops or
tea leaves are not handy, q little old saw
dust or sand win be good help whenever
the native soil Is heavy
A good way to germinate small seeds,
whether seEn In boxes or open ground,
is to make frame of four pieces of
wood, then tack upon Il any pieces Of
cloth or old carpet, or rough gunny
bags, and use such rs acoverlng, letting
1t remain over the seedlings until they
get strong, occasionally raising such COW
sring morning and evening, unless the
weaIher is rough or cold Many choice
plants can be raised In this way without
the aid Of q hot-bed. Small seedlings or
young plants just raising from seed
should be invariably protected from cold
or driving winds, or strong sunshine
In sowing seed for crops 1t is poor
economy 10 SOW too thin or too snaD >
quantity. 1t is by far the best to put in
Ean idea after, pulling or cutting out ali
weak or poor plants, and leaving the TO-
bnst to grow for what is wanted
Many market gardeners adopt very
good plan when sowing onion, carrot,
parship or other slow terminating seeds
They SOW q thin sprinkhng of radish
seed along each row, this comes up in a
few DAYS and shows them where their
rows are, and by this means they can
bcgIn 10 hoe between the rows as soon
rs the weeds appear, which saves q great
deal of labor and expense, the radishes
can be drawn out before they hurt other
things, and two crops are got from the
same land
Ia ordinary private gardens It is pos
sible to grow rwo crops each year. and
enjoy more vegetables than liz generally
Done Spinach, lettuce ard such gener-
ally mature In few weeks, and their
places can be occupied by other things
for the rest of the season Early peas
could be replaced by celery or late beans,
and many things that were soEn early
conld be replaced by late crops
When vegetable seeds are sown in
rows or hills In small gardens, the soil
can be pressed to the seed By walking
up the rows or pressing the soil with
the feet This serves another good pur-
pose If between the rows Is mot pressed
hart fewer weeds viii come up, there
BIZ sEring much labor
Flower seeds, many Of the ANNALS.
are bad to transplant and should be
sown where they have to gro'E, such as
pefunEas and mignonette- ANY others
that ean he transplanted are best sown
in hot heds, boxes and sheltered places,
IL wanted for early bloom
Heat, AIR and moisture are siwaTs re-
uuired in order that seed may germin-
ase, and il any one of these are absent or
In excess termination stops and seeds
viii lay fog ares without moving
Some gardeners prefer old seeds, such