THE HOLLYHOCK. 277 
once be placed where they are to remain; otherwise, if planted in beds 
to have one season’s strengthening, the earth should be well dunged, and 
trenched eighteen inches, mixing the dung and mould well together. 
In large plantations where the Hollyhock only forms a feature among 
other tall flowers, or towering above short ones, and where it may be 
desirable to always keep up the feature unimpaired, the best way is to 
remove the earth all round, and to cut away the smaller suckers or 
plants with a sharp knife, leaving the main one unmoved ; in this case 
the bare root should be left exposed to dry before it is covered up. 
The effect of removing the young ones from the principal plant is to 
strengthen it, and therefore is generally resorted to in preference to 
digging up and substituting others. The young plants so removed may 
be treated the same as if the whole were parted, always keeping them 
clear of weeds. 
In raising from seed, the plan generally adopted by florists is to sow 
the seed on a prepared bed, rather thinly and evenly, and rake it in so that 
it be well covered ; or sift a little mould over it to make sure. Choose 
a day after there has been some rain to soak the bed well and put the 
ground in good order, Should the weather be at all dry and parching, 
see that the bed be watered—not sprinkled merely, but sufficiently 
soaked, with a fine rosed water-pot, that the seeds may not he disturbed, 
When they are up, hand-weed the bed so as to prevent anything from 
sharing the space with the seedlings, or depriving them of nourishment ; 
when they have four or six rough leaves, water the bed well, to soak the 
ground, and draw out the plants wherever they are too thick, so as to 
leave a good three inches between the remaining plants ; and having 
prepared another bed, prick out the drawn plants three inches apart all 
overit. The principal attention is now required to keep both beds clear 
from weeds, and give them water in very dry weather if they appear to 
want it, for sometimes the earth looks very dry, when it is not so a 
little below the surface; in fact, watering should never be done often 
and in small quantities, but seldom and in profusion, so that the bed 
- may be saturated some distance down, Nothing is worse for any plant 
than to be frequently watered and not far into the soil, for it encourages 
fibres near the surface, which suffer from ordinary drought, while the 
plants seldom but effectively watered, send down their roots after the 
nourishment that is seldom given at top. Towards the end of the 
summer these plants may be all transplanted into rows or beds eighteen 
inches apart in the rows, and three feet from row to row. In the spring 
these may be earthed up like a row of cabbages or cauliflowers, and 
when the blooms rise they must be watched. As the flowers are 
developed the worthless must be forked up and got rid of, to prevent 
future mistakes. Some merely cut down the flower-stem, and leave the 
plant in the ground to be sent to market or made to bring something ; 
those, however, who are at work for improved varieties had better 
always take them up and destroy them, for they are better on the dung- 
heap than anywhere else. In selecting those which are to be kept, 
recognise none that do not offer some decided advantage; very thick 
petals, very bright or new colours, very double flowers, very good form, 
or some decidedly good quality, As observed by Mr. Glenny, “ thickness 
