256 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



air, they will do more good than harm, as long as it lays together. Earthworms 

 should never be ruthlessly destroyed ; they are appointed by nature to ventilate 

 the subsoil, by boring in it channels for the admission cf air. 



Strawbeeby Plantations. — J. P., Torquay, — We have known strawberry- 

 plants at ten years old to bear well and grow luxuriantly, but it is the exception. 

 As a rule, strawberry plantations should be renewed every tliree years, and the 

 best time is as soon as good-rooted runners can be got — that is, during July and 

 August. The ground should be trenched deeply, and a liberal dressing of manure 

 well chopped over and dug in with it. 



KALMrA glauca. — Pensioner. — Kalmia glauca should have a west aspect, a 

 peat soil, the roots to be screened from the soil by its own foliage, or the foliage 

 of other plants of the same constitution, and to have abundance of water overhead 

 while making its spring growth. Without this care it seldom flowers, and with 

 every care it will not flower in some districts. 



Hebbaceous Plants. — J. B. Dorking. — You should sow at once, there is no 

 time to lose. The last week in July is the best time of the whole year for sowing 

 seed of herbaceous plants. 



Weigelias. — M. S. C. — Leave them alone, give them no attention whatever, 

 except to remove dead wood, and you will have abundance of bloom. Weigelias 

 always flower profusely when old. 



Lilies. — Beta. — All border lilies that have done blooming should be taken 

 up, the offsets removed, and the large roots for flowering next year be planted 

 again directly where they are to bloom, and with a shovelful of rotten dung or 

 some sound fresh compost added for every clump. Plant the offsets also at once 

 in the reserve ground. This is the proper way to manage all border lilies. Choice 

 liliums in pots to have abundance of water until done blooming ; after that, the 

 supply of water to be diminished, but not hastily; and as soon as the foliage shows 

 signs of decay lay the pots on their sides on a sunny shelf in a greenhouse, to 

 make sure of ripening the bulbs. Let them remain in the pots a mouth, then 

 shake them out and repot them. 



Eaely Annuals. — Beginner. — If you want a show of annuals early in summer, 

 you must sow them in the previous autumn. During the latter half of August 

 or the first half of September, is the best season to get them strong enough to 

 stand the winter; if sown earlier, they get too forward, and are apt to suffer from 

 frost. An open situation, sheltered from the north, is to be preferred, and the 

 ground should be as hard as flint. On this hard surface lay down a shallow bed 

 of poor sandy soil, and on that sow the sorts in rows pretty close together, each 

 marked with a good-sized tally. In gardens that are very dry or insufficiently 

 drained, the plants will have a better chance, if the bed is made to slope south- 

 ward. This will carry off excess of moisture, and the plants will start better in 

 spring. They are to be transplanted singly into the beds and borders as desired, 

 as early in March as the weather will permit. The soil in which they are to 

 bloom should be rich and well worked ; and as every one of the plants will grow 

 to twice the size ordinarily attained by the same sort when grown in spring, they 

 must be planted at double the ordinary distance apart. To make sure, it would 

 be as well to sow at least one pan of each of the same sort as those sown on the 

 border, these to be kept in a pit or frame, and dealt with in the same manner for 

 blooming. Some of the improved forms of hardy annuals are equal to anything 

 we possess for brilliancy of colour and effect in masses. 



Calceolaeias. — New Subscriber. — Nothing is easier to propagate than bed- 

 ding Calceolarias, and the middle of September is quite soon enough for the 

 purpose, as they root freely either in pots or in a cold frame, if kept free from 

 insects, damp and frost, though some weeks must elapse before they are properly 

 rooted. 



