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ANNUALS. 
with a stem as thick as a man’s leg. 
We have omitted to observe, that 
during the whole process of shifting, 
the temperature in which the plants 
are kept should be from sixty to 
seventy, or even eighty, degrees 
during sunshine ; and that they 
should be so abundantly supplied 
with water, that the air should be 
constantly charged with moisture : 
but when the plants begin to flower, 
they ought to be removed to a dry 
airy situation, and the temperature 
gradually lowered. The dry air, 
-and the lowering of the temperature, | 
will not only increase the intensity 
of the colours of the flowers and. 
leaves, but will prolong the duration | 
of the plant. 
Half-hardy Annuals may be 
sown either in plunged pots, or in a | 
bed of earth on a slight hotbed, in 
February or March ; and after they 
have come up they may be pricked 
out into plunged pots, or into the 
earth covering another slight hot- 
bed, where they may remain till, 
the beginning of May, when they | 
should be transplanted into the beds | 
or borders in ihe open garden, where | 
they are finally to remain. In most 
cases, however, it is not worth while | 
to prick out the plants in a second 
hotbed ; and sometimes they may | 
be sown in pots, and thinned out to_ 
two or three plants in a pot; and 
when they have grown two or three 
inches high, the ball of earth, and 
the plants in it, may be turned out 
into the open border. This mode is 
well adapted for strong clay soils, 
because when plants from a hotbed | 
are transplanted into such soils, they 
commonly receive a severe check ; 
whereas when they are turned out 
with balls, provided the soil round | 
them is settled by a good watering, 
_they receive no check whatever. 
» The soil in which half-hardy annuals 'when the flower-beds and borders 
_ are rais ould be light and rich, 
because only in such a soil that 
the tender seedlings will grow vigor- 
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ously, and produce numerous fibrous 
roots without which they would pro- 
| duce but little effect when turned out 
‘into the open garden. The more 
| showy kinds of half-hardy annuals 
are the French and African Mari- 
golds, Chinese and German Asters, 
| Zinnias, the purple Jacobea, and a 
| number of others. Brompton, ten- 
_weeks, and German Stocks, though 
| quite hardy, make better plants, 
| and consequently flower more vigor- 
ously, when so raised. There are 
few plants mere truly ornamental 
than the different kinds ef Steck ; 
and when these are raised under 
glass, pricked out into pots of the 
smallest size, and gradually shifted 
from pots of two inches to those of 
ten inches in diameter, they will 
make winter ornaments for green- 
houses and dining-rooms, which for 
fine masses of colour are unequalled 
by any production of tropical cli- 
mates. Brompton Stocks, treated 
/in this manner, have been known 
to attain the height of six feet, and 
to live and flower for three years. 
Hardy Annuals are generally 
sown in the open garden, where 
they are finally to remain ; or they 
may be sown in pots or seed-beds to 
transplant into their final situation, 
when they are two or three inches 
high. The latter mode is preferable 
with all the Californian annuals, 
which grow stronger and flower 
better when sown in autumn, and 
suffered to stand the winter in the 
open air, than when they are sown 
| with the other annuals in spring. 
About an inch in thickness of very 
light soil should be laid on a hard 
surface of rock or ovat. iii any 
obscure part of the garden, and in 
this the seeds should be sown the 
first week in September. In March 
or April, according to the season, 
| have been dug over and prepared, 
_ the young seedlings should be taken 
|up by spadefuls and laid over the 
