rather slow in germinating. It is customary to plant them rather
thickly in order that by the united strength of many seeds they may
more readily come to the surface. This point should be observed also
in planting seeds in heavy ground that is liable to pack and crust
over before the seeds germinate.

Seed should always be sown in freshly stirred soil and may be planted
by hand or with a machine.

For the home garden and the school garden, and when only small
quantities of any one variety are planted, a machine is hardly
desirable and hand planting is preferable.

The rows are marked out with the garden marker, or the end of a hoe or
rake handle (Fig. 47), using a line or the edge of a board as a guide.
The seeds are then carefully and evenly dropped in the mark or furrow.

The covering is done with the hand or a rake or hoe, and the soil is
pressed over the seeds by patting it with the covering tool or walking
on the row and pressing it with the feet. This pressing of the soil
over the seeds is to bring the particles of soil close to each other
and to the seed so that film water can climb upon them and moisten the
seed sufficiently for sprouting.

A convenient way of distributing small seeds like those of turnip and
cabbage, is to take a small pasteboard box or tin spice or
baking-powder box, and punch a small hole in the bottom near one end
or side. Through this the seeds can be sifted quite evenly.

For the larger operations of the farm and market garden, hand and