I 426 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



Bulbs. — For early spring bloom nothing is more satisfactory than the 

 class of early-blooming bulbs. Of these, the best are crocuses, tulips, 

 hyacinths, daffodils, jonquils. These species are hardy. Some provision 

 should be made for growing other flowers (as annuals) in the bulb beds 

 in order to make them attractive after the bulbs are done. Once a stock 

 of bulbs is obtained the supply should not decrease much from year to 

 year, if they are given good care. 



Roses. — Roses are wanted for bloom, not for the effect of their foliage 

 nor for their beauty as bushes. Therefore they should be grown in a 

 garden by themselves, where they can be tilled and fertilized in order to 

 make them produce a good crop. They need as much care as do corn or 

 potatoes. They should be placed in the flower garden, not on the lawn. 



Plants for screens. — Many annual plants make effective screens and 

 covers for unsightly places. Wild cucumber (or echinocystis) , cobasa, and 

 sweet peas may be used to decorate the tennis screen or the chicken-yard 

 fence. The alley fence, the smokehouse, the children's playhouse, may 

 be screened with morning-glories, flowering beans, and other twiners and 

 climbers. The windows may be screened and decorated by vines grown 

 either in the ground or in window-boxes. 



Efficient screens can be made of many strong-growing and large-leaved 

 plants, of which castor beans, sunflowers, cannas, tobacco and other 

 nicotianas, and striped or Japanese corn are the chief. 



Annuals and how to grow them. — The annual flowers of the seedsmen 

 are those that give their best bloom in the very year in which the seeds 

 arc sown. The true annuals are those plants that complete their entire 

 life cycle in one season. Some of the so-called annual flowers will con- 

 tinue to bloom the second and third years, but the bloom is so poor and 

 sparse after the first season that it does not pay to keep them. 



Most annuals will bloom in central New York if the seeds are sown 

 in the open ground when the weather becomes thoroughly settled. But 

 there are some kinds, as cosmos and moon-flowers, for which our season 

 is commonly too short to give good bloom. These kinds may be started 

 early in the house or in hotbeds; and similar treatment may be given 

 any plants of which it is desired to secure blooms before the normal time. 



Prepare the ground thoroughly and deep. Annuals must make a 

 quick growth. Sec that the soil contains enough humus, or vegetable 

 mold, to make it rich and to enable it to hold moisture. If the ground 

 is not naturally rich, spade in well-rotted manure or mold from the 

 woods. A little commercial fertilizer may help in starting off the 

 plants quickly. Prepare the land as early in spring as it is in fit con- 

 dition, and prevent evaporation by keeping the surface loose by means 

 of raking. 



