USE OF ANNUAL FLOWERING PLANTS 215 



soil, give the ground a thorough spading by digging down eight to tea 

 inches. Turn the soil over.-vwhen you spade it and break up the lumps, 

 as you go, in order that they may not bake. Pulverize the surface 

 thoroughly by using a common garden rake, and it is then ready for the 

 seed sowing, providing the soil and air are warm enough. If the 

 soil is too cold, the seeds may not germinate well and even if they do, 

 they may be killed by an early spring frost. In planting the seed, they 

 should be scattered rather profusely over the soil surface, for it is bet- 

 ter to have too many than not enough as many of them may not grow. 

 Cover the seed by raking them into the soil. Such a covering should 

 be no thicker than outside conditions demand. Although we have many 

 strong winds and heavy rains in the spring, it seems to me that an eighth 

 of an inch cover is sufficient for nearly all such seeds. It is usually 

 unnecessary to water the seed bed artifically, but in case the surface be- 

 comes too dry before the seeds germinate it may be a good plan to give 

 the soil a thorough soaking. After the plants are up well, thin them out 

 in case they are too thick. One or two hoeings, in order to stir the sur- 

 face soil and kill the weeds, comprises about all the necessary tending 

 and in a few weeks the flower border is one mass of bloom. 



There are other methods of starting the flower seeds if one has the 

 room and the means to perform them. Such seeds do best if started in 

 hotbeds, very early, and then transplanted later to the flower borders. 

 This gives earlier and stockier plants, but is quite expensive and hence 

 not often practiced. Many people start such seeds in flats or boxes, in- 

 door and then transplant them. This is very good and does not necessi- 

 tate the expense of constructing hotbeds. But using either method of 

 planting, the owner will find that these beautiful annual flowers fully 

 repay him for the trouble he has taken to raise them. 



