STARTING PLANTS FROM SEED

One of the ways of getting a supply of plants for the house is to start
them from seed. With a number of varieties, better specimens may be
obtained by this method than by any other. Most of the annuals, and many
of the biennials and perennials, are best reproduced in this way.

Simple as the art of starting plants from seed may seem, there are a
number of things which must be thought of, and done correctly. We must
give them a proper situation, soil, temperature, covering and amount of
moisture, and when once above ground they need careful attention until
lifted and started on their way as individual plants.

The number of plants of one sort which will be required for the house is
naturally not large, and for that reason beginners often try starting
their seeds in pots. But a pot is not a good thing to try to start
plants in: the amount of earth is too small and dries out quickly. Seed
pans are better, but even they must be watched very carefully. A wooden
box, or flat, is better still. Cigar boxes are often used with good
results; but a more satisfactory way is to make a few regular flats
from a soap or cracker box bought at the grocer's. Saw it lengthwise
into sections two inches deep, being careful to first draw out nails and
wire staples in the way, and bottom these with material of the same
sort. Either leave the bottom boards half an inch apart, or bore seven
or eight half-inch holes in the bottom of each, to provide thorough
drainage. If they are to be used in the house, a coat or two of paint
will make them very presentable. Of course one such box will accommodate
a great many seeds--enough to start two hundred to a thousand little
plants--but you can sow them in rows, as described later, and thus put
from three to a dozen sorts in each box.

Where most beginners fail in attempting to start seeds is in not taking
the trouble to prepare a proper soil. They are willing to take any
amount of trouble with watering and heat and all that, but they will not
fix a suitable soil. The soil for the seed box need not be rich, in fact
it is better not to have manure in it; but very porous and very light it
must be, especially for such small seeds as most flowers have. Such a
soil may be mixed up from rotted sod (or garden loam), leaf-mould and
sharp sand, used in equal proportions. If the loam used is clayey, it
may take even a larger proportion of sand. The resulting mixture should
be extremely fine and crumbling, and feel almost "light as a feather"
in the hand. If the sod and mould have not already been screened, rub
the compost through a sieve of not more than quarter-inch mesh--such as
a coal-ash sifter. This screening will help also to incorporate the
several ingredients evenly and thoroughly.

While we provided holes in the seed box for drainage, it is best to take
even further precautions in this matter by covering the bottom of the
box with nearly an inch of coarse material, such as the roots and half
decayed leaves, screened out of the sods and leaf-mould. On the top of
this put the prepared soil, filling the box to within about a quarter of
an inch of the top, and packing down well into the corners and along
sides and ends. The box should not be filled level full, because in
subsequent waterings there would be no space to hold the water which
would run off over the sides instead of soaking down into the soil.

The usual way is to fill the boxes and sow the seed, and then water the
box on the surface, but I mention here a method which I have used in my
own work for two years. When filling the box, set it in some place where
it may be watered freely, such as on the cellar floor, if too cold to
work outdoors. After putting in the first layer of coarse material, give
it a thorough soaking and then put in about two-thirds of the rest of
the soil required and give that a thorough watering also. The balance
of the soil is then put in and made level, the seeds sown, and no
further watering given, or just enough to moisten the surface and hold
it in place, if dry. The same result can be obtained by filling and
sowing the box in the usual way, and then placing it in some place--such
as the kitchen sink--in about an inch of water, and leaving it until
moisture, not water, shows upon the surface. Either of these ways is
much surer than the old method of trying to soak the soil through from
the surface after planting, in which case it is next to impossible to
wet the soil clear through without washing out some of the small seeds.

After filling the box as directed, make the soil perfectly smooth and
level with a small flat piece of board, or a brick. Do not pack it down
hard,--just make it firm. Then mark off straight narrow lines, one to
two inches apart, according to the size of the seed to be sown.