268 THE FLORIST. 



tion, size of their flowers, and sturdiness of habit, will be the best 

 recommendation for such an amount of care. For some of the later- 

 sown annuals, a good system is to sow their seeds in some convenient 

 situation, in a light shallow soil well incorporated with fine leaf- 

 mould, to induce an abundance of fibres. It is well to render the 

 natural surface perfectly solid, and to place artificially all the soil re- 

 quired. As soon as the plants are of sufficient size, they should be 

 transplanted into a situation similarly prepared to that in which the 

 seeds were sown, and at sufficient distances from each other to allow 

 their removal with as little mutilation of root as possible. If a con- 

 stant succession of plants is provided in this way, they can be moved 

 at any time during the summer months, and often scarcely a leaf 

 will droop. Of course, a cloudy day, in which to remove all plants 

 of a like nature, is desirable ; but if they are grown as I have sug- 

 gested, a bright day need be no bar to their removal. No soil is so 

 well calculated for growing them in till their final removal as well- 

 decaying leaf-mould. I have generally placed a stratum of ordinary 

 soil on the surface, to prevent excessive evaporation. But the fibres 

 ramify so thickly in the decaying leaves, that in the process of removal 

 little damage is sustained by them ; and whenever a whole bed has 

 to be filled, or a vacancy re-occupied, a trowel and handbarrow or 

 basket, expeditiously employed, will soon accomplishthe desired end. 



It will be well to observe that all ordinary beddmg-plants, when 

 removed from their cutting-pots, are best treated in this way. It 

 saves pots, is less trouble, and the plants are individually superior to 

 others wholly grown in pots ; as it often happens, that if from any 

 cause plants intended for the flower-borders become pot-bound, the 

 greater part of the summer is consumed before they begin to recover 

 themselves. 



Annuals that are required to remain as long a period in blossom 

 as possible should never be allowed to perfect seeds. It should'be 

 remembered, as a physiological fact closely bearing upon practical 

 gardening, that the great end of all organic life is to perpetuate its 

 kind ; and that by taking advantage of this principle, and retarding 

 such a consummation, a more protracted existence can be procured. 

 By such practice plants naturally annuals are rendered of perennial 

 duration — to wit, the Mignonette ; and the full blooming season of 

 many plants, as the Chinese Primrose amongst flowers, and the 

 Strawberry in fruits, can be artificially protracted for our gratification. 

 This fact is a strong supporter of the belief m the analogy of animal 

 and vegetable life. If the eggs of any of the birds, as, for instance, 

 pigeons — which, under ordinary circumstances, only lay two — are 

 constantly removed, others are as constantly deposited ; and in many 

 of our common song-birds, as the thrush, double the usual quantity 

 are sometimes produced by their being removed as soon as deposited 

 in the nest, leaving one as a " decoy." 



On the accumulation of vigour in annual plants, Mr. Knight says, 

 " By appropriate management annual plants may be made to accu- 

 mulate in one period of their lives the sap which they expend in 

 another, with very great advantage to the cultivator." G. L. 



