A SEED BED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 874, 18 January 1930, Page 28

A SEED BED

A MtfcU bbD SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING Every garden should have a seed bed in a sheltered corner, where a stock of young plants can be raised for planting out when the weather is favourable and at the proper season. ( When about to form a seed bed, select good soil, if possible, and see that it is well drained. The soil should I then be well and deeply dug over, and have old stable manure thoroughly mixed with it: the rake should then be run over it to level the surface. The seed can then be sown on it, and a light covering of soil only given. Half an inch is quite sufficient for cabbage, cauliflower, tomato and such sized seeds, and only a slight increase for larger seeds is required. Then mulch the surface lightly with old stable manure: broken up fine it will keep the roots cool, check evaporation, and promote the young growth. Water every evening during the dry, hot weather, and use a fine-rosed can. These remarks particularly apply to cauliflower plants, which must be kept growing freely until they are planted out; otherwise good heads cannot be expected. It is a common mistake to sow' seed too thickly, for if the young plants are too numerous they must be thinned out directly they are fit to handle, otherwise they will be become drawn and weak. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, leek, parsley, tomatc, capsicum should all be raised in a seed bed, and when ready transplanted into their permanent position. Select a cool or showery day. Lift the plants carefully with a trowel or spade, being careful to preserve all the young fibrous roots, and put out the plants in the manner directed in cultural directions. A good watering is necessary to complete the operation, and a mulching is of great service during the summer season. *