337 



a net or wire, to prevent cats or birds from scratching out, or burying 

 the seeds so as to destroy them. Some persons never cover the 

 seeds, but leave them on the surface, for the rain to wash them into 

 the ground, which is often the best method. The boxes, &c. should 

 then be placed so as to receive half the day's sun, during the winter 

 season; but in the beginning of March be removed, where they may 

 have only the morning sun till ten o'clock; for the young plants now 

 soon begin to appear, which, if exposed to one whole day's sun only, 

 are all destroyed. The proper season for sowing the seed is in the. 

 latter end of summer, or beginning of autumn, as about September, 

 but they may be sown in the spring. 



During the summer season, the plants in dry weather should be 

 often refreshed with water, never giving them too great a quantity at 

 once. In the July following, the plants will be large enough to 

 remove, at which time a bed must be prepared, or boxes, filled with 

 the above-mentioned soil, in which they may be planted about three 

 inches apart, and shaded when in beds, every day, till they are 

 thoroughly rooted, as also in very hot dry weather; but if they are 

 in baskets or boxes, they may be removed to a shady situation. 



When planted in beds, there should be some rotten neats' dung 

 laid about ten inches under the surface, and beaten down close and 

 smooth : this will prevent the worms from drawing the young plants 

 out of the earth, which they generally do where this is not practised. 

 This dung should be laid about half a foot thick, which will entirely 

 prevent the worms getting through it until the plants are well esta- 

 blished in the beds; and the roots strike down into the dung by the 

 spring, which makes their flowers stronger than usual: these beds 

 should be exposed to the east, and screened from the south sun as 

 much as is necessary. 



In the spring following many of these flowers Avill show; when 

 such of them as have good properties should be selected, which 

 should be removed each of them into a pot of the same prepared 

 earth, and preserved until the next season, at which time a judgment 

 of the goodness of the flower may be formed; but those that pro- 

 duce plain-coloured or small flowers should be taken out, and 



2 x 



