THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 117 



attention, you will have flowers this year wliich will be both a credit 

 and a pleasure to you, and equal to any picture of asters ever 

 painted. 



They should be sown on a spent hot-bed, or in pans or pots placed 

 in a close pit or frame ; the plants will make their appearance 

 in a few days, w^hen you must give tliem plenty of air. AYlien 

 they are about an inch high, spread some fine soil over the surface 

 of a slight hot-bed, into which transplant your seedlings at a little 

 distance apart, and let them remain there till they are three or 

 four inches high. Xow that asters are so perfect in shape and 

 quilling, and of every variety of colour, from white to a deep 

 crimson and purple, a well-arranged set of them would have a fine 

 appearance on a ribbon border or in a geometric garden, and would 

 remain gay from the 1st of August until cut down by frost. If, 

 therefore, you desire to grow them either in ribbons or masses, 

 prepare the soil generously with old dung : that which suits them 

 exactly is a mixture of lio;ht sandy loam and rotten dung. AVhen 

 the ground is in good order, wait for a favourable opportunity, 

 and after some nice showery weather, transplant them into the 

 border, and water them for a few days ; should the weather prove 

 very hot and dry, the watering must be continued, for if they get 

 the least check through drought, the insects (which seem as though 

 they were always waiting in ambush) will pounce upon them and 

 claim them as their own. Should this misfortune occur, it will be 

 advisable either to syringe or sprinkle with tobacco-water, taking care 

 that some of it goes into the centre of each plant, when the enemy 

 will be effectually dislodged. 



Supposing that it is desired to grow them for exhibition, the 

 plants should be finally planted out for blooming in well-manured 

 soil, in rows ten inches from each other. Keep them well watered 

 during dry weather, and quite free from weeds, stirring the ground 

 between the plants occasionally until about the first week in 

 August, when it will require a good top-dressing of rotten dung 

 from an old hot-bed, and then a good soaking of water if the 

 ground appears at all dry. As soon as you have given them the top- 

 dressing, procure some small stakes and tie them up ; when the 

 buds are sufficiently developed for you to see which will make the 

 best flow^ers, thin them out, leaving only three or four to each plant. 

 The flowers to be exhibited must be protected from the wet and from 

 injury by the wind. 



Among the greatest enemies of the aster may be reckoned 

 the slugs, and in places infested by these pests it is a somewhat 

 difficult matter to protect them. Lime is useful in dry weather, 

 but its efficacy is destroyed by a shower, and so a more desirable 

 way is to trap them ; this may be done by placing heaps of two 

 or three fresh cabbage-leaves on either side of them, which will 

 generally attract the rascals ; but perhaps the most effectual way is 

 to take out a lantern at night and search the plants individually, 

 when, with a little perseverance, they may be soon got rid of by this 

 style of hand-picking. 



