THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 109 



are also good for borders, and if kept pegged down until the end of 

 July, they make a superb bed. 



I have purposely omitted the Ten-iveeks Stocks and German Asters, 

 because I wished to say that they must be sown in the drills very 

 thinly, and when up they must be thinned out to at least two inches 

 apart, so it will be best to devote more than one drill to these. The 

 stocks, too, are liable to damp off when thick in the row. As they 

 advance in growth, shake over them, when the leaves are dry, a little 

 dry earth, or peat dust, at intervals of every four days. Both of 

 these are, of course, admirable subjects for beds and borders. 



I must now state that all the above would be benefited if they 

 could be sown on a gentle bottom-heat ; therefore, those who have 

 the convenience, may adopt that method. Two or three cartloads 

 of fresh stable manure, properly worked up, would assist them 

 amazingly, as the plants would get larger, and, consequently flower 

 earlier. But those who are not in a position to command bottom- 

 heat must not be disheartened. The only difference will be they 

 will not have so early a show of flowers by a fortnight, and be 

 deprived of a few subjects which the convenience of others enables 

 them to possess. Those who have the advantage of fermenting 

 material may add the following to the sorts above named : — All the 

 Portulaccas ; the pretty little Campanula carpatica, white and blue ; 

 Petunias, Lobelias; also Amaranthus melanclwlicus ruber and Perilla 

 Nankinensis for ornamental foliage plants ; but these are all subjects 

 that require more care. They must be pricked out into boxes or 

 small pots a week or two before hand, and if sown a month earlier 

 another year they would be likely to do better. A good substitute 

 for either is Barr's Selected bedding beet, which should be sown 

 about the middle of April where it is to remain. 



Any good seedsman's catalogue will give lists of hardy annuals 

 that may be sown this month, but I shall only give the names of 

 those that I know to be good for bedding, or that last a long while 

 in flower, without respect to hardiness. 



Tom Thumb TropaBolums (miscalled "Nasturtiums"). These 

 are excellent bedders, and, as they don't like transplanting, they 

 may be sown at once where they are to flower. JSschscholtzia crocea, 

 a capital plant for yellow flowers ; Yiscaria oculata, Leptosiplwn 

 aureus, Whitlavia gvancliflora, Hibiscus Africanus, Yellow Hawhweed, 

 Eutoca viscida, Bartonia aurea, and the Helianthus annuus, or sun- 

 flower. The last forms noble objects amongst shrubs and back- 

 grounds of borders. 



There are a few more tender plants which will serve as bedders 

 which I shall name next month. In the meantime our readers should 

 secure the following seeds, and sow in pots, and place in the frame 

 or in the windows of a warm room, and next month I propose to 

 show them how to deal with them, for the ladies' garden cannot be 

 complete without these beautiiul climbers : Convolvulus major in 

 variety ; Tropceolum canariensis, and Tropceolum Lobbii ; Maurandia 

 Barclaijana, Eccremocarpus, Sweet Peas, and the Lophospermum ; 

 these will afford variety and interest to the garden, and give a sort 

 of finish to certain spots that would look otherwise unsightly. In 



