30 HOT BEDS AND COLD FRAMES [CH. 



be fresh fibrous mould from the field or rotted sods from 

 an old pasture, the other half made up of leaf mould and 

 coarse Reigate sand. A small heap of this mixture made 

 now will serve constantly for potting purposes all through 

 the season. 



In the growing of Mignonette there ought to be no 

 transplanting : half-a-dozen thumb-pots should be filled 

 with the compost and a few seeds dropped into each, 

 afterwards plunging the little pots into the warm frame, 

 and in less than three weeks there will be some good- 

 sized plants in each pot, which may be reduced to two 

 or three, according to their vigour, and after ten days 

 more these will be ready for their shift. Select some 

 clean 5 -inch pots, invert a piece of crock, add some moss, 

 then stuff the lower half with very rich cow-dung ; fill in 

 with compost, and, having scooped a hole with the fore- 

 fingers, press the contents of the thumb-pot into the space, 

 and make the clay in the pot as firm as possible, tapping 

 down all round with the trowel handle. Water all with 

 a rose, and put back into the frame.* In a few weeks' 

 time the pots will have become full of roots, and 

 the stems will be 6 or 8 inches long and vigorous. 

 Pick away the leading buds, and bend and twist down 

 the stems round the inside edge, carefully staking them 

 down to the soil with wire hooks or hairpins. Water 



* While in the frame the tap root is very liable to grow vigorously, 

 and soon forces its way from the pot into the bed below, then when 

 the plant is removed the tap root is snapped and the result is failure. 

 It is therefore necessary to place a piece of glass or slate under each 

 pot against which the root will grow and spread itself out. 



