In very cold nights, cover the
sashes and frame with straw-mats.
_For Planting Flower Seeds_.--Break up the soil, till it is very
soft, and free from lumps. Rub that nearest the surface between the
hands, to make it fine. Make a circular drill a foot in diameter. Seeds
are to be planted either deeper or nearer the surface, according to
their size. For seeds as large as sweet peas, the drill should be half
an inch deep. The smallest seeds must be planted very near the surface,
and a very little fine earth be sifted over them. After covering them
with soil, beat them down with a trowel, so as to make the earth as
compact as it is after a heavy shower. Set up a stick in the middle
of the circle, with the name of the plant heavily written upon it with
a dark lead pencil. This remains more permanent if white-lead be first
rubbed over the surface. Never plant when the soil is very wet. In
very dry times, water the seeds at night. Never use very cold water.
When the seeds are small, many should be planted together, that they
may assist each other in breaking the soil. When the plants are an
inch high, thin them out, leaving only one or two, if the plant be a
large one, like the balsam; five or six, when it is of a medium size;
and eighteen or twenty of the smaller size.
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