156 ANEMONES [CH. 



conditions being very rich manure and very fresh soil. 

 It is, perhaps, in its habits, rather a field than a garden 

 flower; like its kin, A. fulgens, it is really in its element 

 not in the gardens but the meadows of Savoy. 



There is, of course, the tendency in a flower like our 

 Irish Anemone, which owes its beauty to careful culture, 

 to revert, if left to itself, to its old meagre shades ; and 

 the grower must still be careful to select only the good 

 and pure blooms for seed, if he is to avoid the liability 

 to degeneracy. 



Although they may be raised from seed at almost any 

 time of the year, it will be found that the best season for 

 sowing is about the middle of March, on a seed bed of 

 well-prepared compost. The seed a day or two before 

 sowing should be thoroughly mixed with about ten times 

 its own volume of moist rabbit sand ; this makes it 

 possible to spread the fluffy seed evenly over the whole 

 surface of the bed. Cover and tread lightly, and rake in 

 well. In dry weather give water, or, better still, shade 

 with light canvas until the seedlings are almost ready 

 to appear. Their germination is sometimes slow. 



As soon as the young plants are sufficiently strong to 

 handle, the bed intended for their reception should be 

 prepared by clearing away the old worn-out garden soil 

 to the depth of 12 or 15 inches, filling in with a corre- 

 sponding amount of rich dairy-yard manure, and adding 

 6 inches of fresh top-soil from the field. From an aesthetic 

 point of view, a circular bed somehow seems to fit them 

 best. Into this prepared ground transplant the seedling 



