112 GARDEiNlKG FOR PLEASURE. 



ered the flowers. After weeds have been removed, if 

 the annuals come up thickly, which they usually do, 

 they should be thinned out, leaving the strongest plants, 

 so that they shall stand at from two to six inches apart, 

 according to their kind. Some few annuals are not strong 

 enough to stand without support, and for such twigs 

 or stakes twelve or eighteen inches high should be used. 

 For all climbing plants, such as Sweet Peas, brush, 

 stakes, or strings proportioned to their hight, must be 

 used at an early stage of their growth, or they may be 

 trained on the Tomato trellis described in chapter on 

 Implements. 



Our seed catalogues are nearly all defective in not 

 giving more specific directions for the culture of annual 

 plants. If the space used for description of form and 

 color were devoted to telling the time and manner of sow- 

 ing, it would be of far more benefit to the amateur buyer; 

 but nearly all follow the English practice of giving de- 

 scriptions of varieties only. There the necessity for such 

 information is less, the people being better informed as 

 to flower culture, and the climate is also more congenial 

 for the germination of most seeds. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HANGING BASKETS. 



Baskets in which to grow plants are now made in a 

 great variety of styles and of different materials. What 

 are known as " rustic" baskets (figure 37) are made with 

 the receptacle for the earth covered mostly with laurel 

 roots, which assume an endless variety of grotesque 

 shapes, well fitted for giving a rustic appearance to the 

 outer covering of the hanging basket. Then there are 



