108 THE CHEONICLES OF A GARDEN. 



days commence there may be a renewal of spring's pleasant 

 task — sowing seeds; for 



" Surely seeds of autumn 

 In spring-time clothe the ground." 



" Select, for tlie purpose of sowing seeds in autumn, (Sep- 

 tember is the best month,) an open, airy spot, away from 

 where fallen leaves are likely to gather in heaps by the 

 wind. The soil should not be dug more than three inches 

 deep, and the seed should be sown thin ; a deep bed is 

 likely to encourage the seedlings to grow too fast and 

 bulky, and so make them more liable to be cut with frost, 

 and if they are thick in the bed, the one helps to draw up 

 the other, too weak and spindly. The best thing in the 

 world to cover seed-beds in the autumn, is one -half 

 light soil, and one-half finely sifted coal ashes, from which 

 the very fine dust and the rough cinders are taken. The 

 red and white Clarkia pulchella are the only two Clark las 

 w^orth growing, and no winter kills them when self-sown. 

 Collinsia bicolor and C. grandi^ora are the two best of 

 that family ; they also are hardy enough to withstand most 

 winters. The two yellow E sclischoltzias are as hardy as 

 wheat or barley, and, though not annuals, they do much 

 better if sown and treated as such, first in September, and, 

 secondly, about the middle of April ; if they are to be 

 transplanted, it should be done when they are quite young. 

 The blue and s})otted Nemopliila insigiiis and maculata 

 are the best of them, and the whitish one, N. atomaria, 

 third best. They all pass over almost any winter, and 



