26 HALF-HAEDY ANNUALS. 



fact, that the seeds of most, if not all of the species, are entirely destitute of this 

 property, and yield by expression a large quantity of bland oil. In the North of 

 France the Poppies are extensively grown for this purpose, and the oil is there in 

 general use for domestic purposes, its price being considerably lower than the 

 olive-oil for which it is employed as a substitute. 



HALF-HAEDY ANNUALS. 



"We gave in our last number a select list of such annuals as are sufficiently hardy 

 throughout England to allow of being sown in the open borders, and we now 

 complete the subject by appending a list of those which usually require the aid of 

 a hot-bed. It is obvious, however, that the distinction between the two classes 

 cannot be very clearly defined; some of those commonly termed hardy annuals 

 succeed best when treated as half-hardy, and, on the other hand, a few of those in 

 the following list, such as the dwarf Lobelias, Marygolds, Arctotis, Callichroa, 

 Cuphea, and Clintonia, will, in favourable seasons and situations, do very well in 

 the open border. 



Considerable latitude must therefore be allowed to the judgment of the amateur, 

 though to the inexperienced we venture to recommend, that all the plants named 

 below should have some artificial protection. For the greater number, a good hot- 

 bed is indispensable, if anything like perfection is desired, and especially for early 

 flowers. The localities are few in which this is unattainable; inmost cases, one 

 good frame and light will be sufficient to contain a pot or two of each of the seeds 

 enumerated, and the materials for forming the bed are generally procurable, even in 

 towns. In the early spring, a larger quantity of manure will be necessary than 

 later in the season, for the low temperature generally then prevalent checks the 

 fermentation, and, if the bed is too small, a single sharp frost will often entirely 

 arrest it. For this reason, where a sufficient supply of manure is not available early 

 in the season, it will be far better to defer the construction of the hot-bed until 

 March; though in any case, enough will be needed to form a mass at least two yards 

 long, one-and-a-half wide, and four feet deep, or it will lose its heat in a week or 

 two, and leave the young seedlings exposed to a serious reduction of temperature in 

 case of severe weather. 



"Where a large supply of leaves is available, they will form au excellent adjunct 

 to the manure, but they are generally too much decayed when left exposed to the 

 weather during winter, to be able to furnish much heat. Even if the manure can 

 only be procured by purchase, it will be worth the expenditure, as when thoroughly 

 decayed it will prove available for renovating the borders. 



