The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1881-07-06

DeLand, Volusa County, Florida Wednesday, July g. 1881

is gradually giving way to sowing in
greenhouses or hotbeds in Februar Y,
which gives far healthier and near
ly as strong a plant by the first
week in April, as. those that have
been wintered over. The past sea.
son We raised nearly half million of
plants in this manner, which we sold
at five dollars per 1000, price as
profitable to us as the plants were
satisfactory to the buyers. We SOW
eo the seed the last week in Febru-
ary, in one OF our gre eenhouse benches
so thick that they stood twenty
plants to the square inch these we
began to thin out, to prick in hot
beds, just as the first rough leaf ap.
peared, placing 1000 plants in a 3x6
sash. The handling of that quantity
was big job, but 1 doubt if one
plant in a thousand tailed, owing,
think, to a plan we used in preparing
the bed on the greenhouse bench for
seeds-a plan that think we'll wor.
thy of imitation in preparing bed
tor seeds that have to be transplant.
ed, OF any kind, whether outside or
under glass. We used only two
inches in depth of "soil" for our seed
bed, which was made up as follows: /:
the first layer, OF about an inch, we
used a good triable loan, run through
a half inch sieve. This was patted
down with a spade and made perfect
ly level and moderately firm. On
this was spread about one-tourth of
an inch OF sphagnum (moss from the
swamps), which had been dried and
run through sieve nearly as fine as
mosquito wire, so that it was of the
condition of fine saw dust. On the
top of the moss. the ordinary soil
was again strewn to depth of three
tourths of an inch. This being level.
ed, the seed was sown very thickly,
and then pressed into the soil with
smooth board. On this the fine
moss was again sitted, thick enough
to cover the seed only. The bed was
then freely watered with fine rose,
and in week every seed that had
life in it was plant. Now this
seems very long story to tell about
what most consider a very simple
operation, but it i, necessary 10 give
these details TO thorough under.
standing of the advantages of the
method. When the seed OF most
plants germinate, where they are
thickly sown, the stem strikes down
into the sol, the roots forming a tap.
root with lew fibrcs, unless arrested
by something. Here comes the
value Of our one fourth of an inch of
sitted moss, placed three>quarters of
an inch from the top, AS soon as
the rootlets touch the moss, they
ramity in all directions, so that when
a bunch of seedlings is lifted up and
pulled apart, there is a mass of root.
lets, to which the moss less or more
adheres, attached to each. To the
practical gardener, the advantage of
this Is obvious the tiny seeding has
at once mass of rootlets ready to
work, which strike into the soil at
once. The advantage of the moss
covering Of the seed is not SO appar-
ent, In the matter OF a free germina-
ting seed, such as cabbage as in
many others, but in many families of
plants it is of the greatest value. For
example, !, last November, took two
lots Of 10000 seeds of Centaura
Candida Zone of the Dusty Miller
plants so much used for ribbon liues);
both were sown on the same day,
and exactly in the same manner, in