74 FLORA HISTORICA. 



too small, for when the offsets are weak they fre- 

 quently do not produce flowers for several years, 

 or, at best, but a single flower of diminutive size : 

 now the beauty of this plant consists in the splendid 

 size of the flowers ; and its effect, in congregating a 

 considerable number in one spot. 



It frequently happens that these blossoms are 

 injured by the rain, which renders the flowers so 

 heavy, that they fall to the ground, and become 

 dirty and unsightly. 



As full-blown Poppies, overcharged with rain, 

 Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain. 



Pope's Homer. 



To prevent this, little stakes should be provided 

 with a fork at the end, in which the stalk should 

 rest just beneath the corolla, and the other end of 

 the stake be forced into the ground to the proper 

 height; the foliage will hide the stick, and the 

 plant will retain its natural elegant appearance, 

 which it loses when tied to a support. 



The single sorts are easily propagated by seed, 

 which should be sown in the autumn, upon a bed 

 of light fresh earth, covering them over with the 

 same soil about half an inch in depth. In this bed 

 they should remain two years before they are trans- 

 planted, observing to cover them with an additional 

 inch of mould in the autumn. These were for- 

 merly much cultivated for medicinal purposes, and 



