Canary seed

“ These appear to comprise the statices best known now in cultivation, though there are several other less interesting varieties.
Here, at Santa Ursula, great interest is also taken in the Echiums, another race of Canary plants. Echium simplex must be accorded first place, as it is commonly called Pride of Teneriffe; it bears one immense spike of white flowers, and like the aloe, after this one supreme effort the plant dies. The seed luckily germinates freely. From the island of La Palma had come seed of Echium pininana, and tales of a deep blue flower-spike said to rise from 9 ft. to 15 ft. ”

“ Gathering seeds can be a delightful pastime. The following are most beneficial: seed heads of seeding grasses, Plantain, Chickweed, Shepherd’s Purse, Dock Groundsel, Clover, Teazle, Queen Anne’s Lace, Charlock, Smartweed, dandelion and thistles, except Burdock. These seeds are particularly good at moulting and mating times and a few are always relished as a treat. ”

“ Half a dozen seeds dropped to the inch is fairly thick sowing. As the seed is small, it must not be covered deeply; 1⁄4 inch is ample. When the rows are 15 inches apart about 4 pounds of seed will be needed to the acre. For horse cultivation the drills should be 20 inches apart. Both summer and winter savory do well on rather poor dry soils. If started in hotbeds, the first plants may be gathered during May. Garden-sown seed will produce plants by June. For drying, the nearly mature stems should be cut just as the blossoms begin to appear. ”

“ But there may be one or two plants that stand out conspicuously as the best of the whole lot. These are the ones to mark with a stake so they will not be molested when the crop is being gathered and so they will attain their fullest development.
These best plants, and only these, should then be chosen as the seed bearers. No others should be allowed even to produce flowers. When the seed has ripened, that from each plant should be kept separate during the curing process described elsewhere. And when spring comes again, each lot of [Pg 17] seed should be sown by itself. ”

“ In the seedbed made out of doors in early spring, the drills may be made 4 to 6 inches apart and the seeds sown at the rate of 5 or 6 to the inch. A pound should produce enough plants for an acre. In hand sowing direct in the field, a fine [Pg 139] dry sand is often thoroughly mixed with the seed to prevent too close planting. The proportion chosen is sometimes as great as four times as much sand as seed. Whether sown direct in the field or transplanted the plants should finally not stand closer than 8 inches—10 is preferred. ”

“ They are far lovelier if bought by bulk so one may have the one colour, that lovely blue. These seeds may be planted in drills two seeds every six inches apart. Later thin to twelve inches apart.
Most people start cannas from the bulb. When one does this, plant a good sized bulb and leave about an inch of stalk above ground. If the bulbs are smaller use two to a hole or planting. If cannas are started from seed follow this direction: File holes in the canna seed. The reason for this is that the outer crust is tough and filing helps the young plant to get out. ”

“ Fill the pots nearly to the top with light, rich mould and fill up with silver sand. Break off the pipings at the third joint, then in each piping cut a little upward slit, plant them pretty thickly in the sand, and place the pot on a gentle hotbed, or on a bed of sifted coal ashes. Put on the sashes, and keep the plants shaded from the sun till they have taken root, then harden off gradually, and place each of the young plants separately in a small pot. Carnations may also be grown from seed sown in spring. When the seedlings have made six or eight leaves, prick them out into pots or beds. ”

“ The usual seed supply should be present, no matter what other food is given. Egg food must be given until the young are fully grown and able to crack seed for themselves. Cracked seed may be fed to lighten the labor of the parents, but it is well to eliminate hemp from such a supply, as the hull of hemp seed contains a poisonous substance that occasionally kills young birds. Drinking water should be available to canaries at all times. ”

“ As Cannas are gross, and have somewhat brittle roots in a young state, it is a good plan to sow the seed singly in small pots. This method preserves all the roots intact, and prevents any check in potting off or dividing the plants out of seed pans or boxes. When this is not done, the plants must be potted off singly, as soon as they have formed two leaves, 3in. pots being used for the first shift. The soil can hardly be too rich and porous. Equal parts rotted dung, loam, and sand, with a little peat, form a capital mixture for them. The plants must be kept in a growing temperature of 60deg. ”

“ During this long period of cultivation there seems to be no record or even indication of varieties. In many temperate and tropical countries it has become a frequent weed in cultivated fields.
Description.—From a cluster of slightly divided radical leaves branching stems rise to heights of 2 to 21⁄2 feet. Toward their summits they bear much divided leaves, with linear segments and umbels of small whitish flowers, followed by pairs of united, hemispherical, brownish-yellow, deeply furrowed "seeds," about the size of a sweet pea seed. These retain their vitality for five or six years. ”

“ CARAWAY SEEDS.—The seeds of this are in demand both by druggists and confectioners. It is cultivated in Kent and Essex; where it, being a biennial plant, is sown with a crop of spring corn, and left with the stubble during the succeeding winter, and after clearing the land in the spring is left to go to seed. It requires a good hot dry soil; but although the crop is often of great value, it so much exhausts the land as to be hazardous culture in many light soils where the dunghill is not handy. ”

“ Then cover with a glass, and, if you can, place in a frame or greenhouse. If you have neither, you must make shift with a sunny window as long as there is danger of frost; but we must warn you that it is not easy to raise seeds in a room. Even in an unused one they are likely to be too damp, or too dry, or to grow spindly in their effort to reach the light. March, April, and May are all months when gardeners sow Carnation seed, and by the end of May you might set your pan out of doors if you can keep slugs from it. ”

“ Propagated by seeds, which are usually kept dry over winter and sown in spring in frames or in protected borders. Cones should be fully matured before being gathered. If they hold the seeds tightly they should be placed in a dry place, sometimes even in an oven, until the scales spread. In order to obtain stocky plants, the seedlings should be transplanted the following spring. The named varieties and the species which do not produce sufficient seed are winter-worked upon seedling stocks which are potted from the seed-beds in the fall. ”

“ In Europe it is often sown with caraway, which, being a biennial and producing only a rosette of leaves at the surface of the ground the first year, is [Pg 84] not injured when the annual coriander is cut. The seed is often sown in the autumn, though spring sowing is perhaps in more favor. The rows are made about 15 inches apart, the seeds dropped 1 inch asunder and 1⁄2 inch deep and the plantlets thinned to 6 or 8 inches. Since the plants run to seed quickly, they must be watched and cut early to prevent loss and consequent seeding of the ground. ”

“ Cultivation.—Thyme does best in a rather dry, moderately fertile, light soil well exposed to the sun. Cuttings, layers and divisions may be made, but the popular way to propagate is by seed. Because the seed is very small, it should be sown very shallow or only pressed upon the surface and then sprinkled with finely sifted soil. A small seedbed should be used in preference to sowing in the open ground first, because better attention can be given such little beds; second, because the area where the plants are ultimately to be can be used for an early-maturing crop. ”

“ Seedlings are probably the hardiest, and will stand the most neglect, but experience is showing that worked trees are the most profitable to grow. The growth of all kinds of citrus-trees from seed is a very simple matter, all that is necessary being a well-prepared seed bed of friable soil that is partially shaded from the heat of the sun, so as to protect the young plants. Selected, fully ripe fruit from well-grown, prolific, healthy trees is taken, and the seeds sown in rows in the seed bed, or broadcast when weeds are not likely to be any trouble. ”

“ A few kinds of seed are the better for soaking, especially such as for some reason have been delayed in sowing. Sweet pea seed is benefited by soaking if not put into the ground until the soil is warm. Seed of canna, moonflower and others with hard shells may be scraped until the outer shell is pierced or is very thin.
It is generally better to buy garden seeds than to grow them, for those who make a business of seed-growing become expert in the cultivation and selection of the plants. ”

“ Cultivation.—Lavender succeeds best on light, limy or chalky soil, but will do well in any good loam. In gardens it is usually employed as an edging for flower beds, and is most frequently propagated by division or cuttings, seed being used only to get a start where plants cannot be secured in the other ways mentioned. In cold climates the plants must either be protected or removed to a greenhouse, or at least a cold frame, which can be covered in severe weather. The seed is sown indoors during March, and if crowding, pricked out 2 inches asunder. ”

“ They produce their fruit on one-year-old canes, which wood is of no further use. The general way of training them is by tying the tops together, or by training them in the shape of a fan on a south wall, but perhaps the best way is to tic them about equal distances apart round hoops supported by light sticks. Seed may be separated from the fruit, dried, and sown early in February on a gentle hotbed. Prick off into good rich mould, harden off by the middle of May, and plant in rich soil. Train them and keep down suckers. When they are grown tall pinch off the tops. ”

“ For cultivation on a large scale the soil should be plowed deeply and allowed to remain in the rough furrows during the winter, to be broken up as much as possible by the frost. In the spring it should be fined for the crop. Sage is easily propagated by division, layers and cuttings, but these ways are practiced on an extensive scale only with the Holt's Mammoth variety, which produces no seed. For other varieties seed is most popular. ”

“ Those which yielded a good crop for the first year have generally been found to produce seed, which, owing to the greater susceptibility of the plants to the attacks of insects, refused to germinate in the following year. Some of the lint produced was, apparently, of excellent quality and sold well, but the necessity for the renewal of seed each year formed a serious obstacle to the establishment of a new variety. The plants from American seed are not so hardy as those from native seed, and the necessity for greater care in cultivation renders them unsuitable for use by the natives. ”

“ Fifty or more scales has each cone, a hundred or more seeds, if the fertilization has been perfect, are ripe and ready to go forth and produce other pine trees. In early September the sap begins to recede from these ripe cones, the scales lose their green plumpness and begin to dry and curl back toward the base of the cone. This gives the seed eating birds, the siskins, the pine grosbeaks and especially the crossbills their best opportunity and they eagerly pluck out such seeds as the narrow openings will give them a chance at. ”

“ For fields where the colonies are small and scattered, this method of hoeing and shallow cultivation is probably the most practicable, as it helps to secure the early germination of any seeds that were left in the ground, and also kills them as soon as they are germinated. If the seed has developed, one must be careful not to spade it in too deep, as it may retain its vitality for some years if left covered in the moist soil. ”

“ The pith, of open cellular structure, contains the sugary juice. The tops, which contain but little sugar, are not crushed, but are used for seed, as the plant germinates from the eyes, or buds, which grow on the [5] stem around the joints. Practically no cultivated cane is propagated from its seed. The roots that remain in the ground after the cane is harvested throw up fresh canes or ratoons for many seasons, after which replanting is necessary. Hawaiian growers do not count on ratoons for more than a few crops, whereas in Cuba this process can be repeated for many years. ”

“ Since the introduction of the early-flowering class, which can easily be had in bloom within six months from date of sowing, an immense impetus has been given to the culture of Carnations from seed, and with judicious management it is not a difficult matter to insure a succession of these delightful subjects almost the year through. For the decoration of greenhouses and for providing cut flowers, seedling Carnations have a special value, which has only to be known to be universally appreciated. ”

“ It is a native of the East Indies, and, in general, good seed may be procured by keeping the plants constantly in a hot-bed or hot-house; but the best method is to raise them on a strong hot-bed, keeping them there till in flower, and then transferring them to the hot-house or dry-stove, to perfect their seeds. ”