THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 215 



of thorou^lily-decayed hotbed manure. It should be used in a rough 

 lumpy condition, and every particle of the fibre preserved. 



The cutting back and repotting must be practised annually alter 

 the flowering season is past, in the same way as already advised, it 

 lar-e specimens are required quickly, three or four small plants may 

 be put into one pot. The only point worth notice m the matter is to 

 select nice healthy little specimens in five-inch pots. 



RAISING HARDY FLOWERS PROM SEED. 



BY "WILLIAM GAEDINEE. 



SARGE numbers of amateurs are now stocking their 

 borders with hardy flowers, and restricting their beddmg 

 operations to the flower-beds ; and as the cost of pur- 

 chasino- plants for this purpose is to many a serious 

 matter'i I have thought a brief description of the best 

 way of raising seedlings, by which a large stock of hardy flowers 

 may be obtained at a trifling cost, would be useful. I have thought 

 it desirable to direct attention to the matter now, for if the seed is 

 sown at once the plants will acquire sufficient strength to produce 

 a good bloom next year. . 



Raising hardy herbaceous plants from seed is a comparatively 

 easy matter, but as the seed of many of them is small, a little trou- 

 ble must be taken to have the soil in proper condition before tliey are 

 sown, otherwise many of the choicest subjects will probably not come 

 up A shady spot ought to be selected, or some system ot shading 

 adopted, because the seed must have moisture to enable it to vegetate, 

 and when exposed to the sun the soil soon dries up, and the continual 

 application of water and the sun together soon make the surtace 

 compact and hard. It is then in anything but a congenial con- 

 dition for the tender seedlings to push through. Supposing a nice 

 shady situation has been selected, dig the ground up, and it rather 

 stifi-, prick in a little sandy stuff just upon the surtace, or, what is 

 better still, a good dressing of drift or river sand. After this is done, 

 make the surface smooth, rake off the stones and rough pieces ot soil, 

 and mark the space out into beds about two teet wide, ihis ^^^^ ^e 

 a convenient width for attending to the plants when up, and the 

 space occupied by each sort can be separated with a piece otstick._ 



Sow the seed thinly, and have a few handfuls of sifted soil m 

 readiness to cover it with. The thickness of the covering must be 

 regulated by the size of the seed, but it is easier to err m putting 

 too much than not enough ; sufficient to cover it is all that is needed. 

 Instead o*" allowing the plants to remain crowded together until tliey 

 are stron.r enough to be planted in their permanent qua,rters, prick 

 them out m a spare corner, at a distance of about a couple of inches 

 apart and let them remain for a few weeks to strengthen. A cool 

 dull day ou'dit to be selected for all transplanting operations, and the 

 plants have^i good watering to settle the soil. If they are lifted care- 

 fully and not allowed to remain out of the ground any longer than 



July. 



