280 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



China asters, California poppies, sweet peas, pinks, double 

 and single sunflowers, hibiscus, candytuft, balsams, morn- 

 ing-glories, stocks, nasturtiums, verbenas, mignonette. 



Of perennials select bleeding hearts, pinks, bluebells, 

 hollyhocks, perennial phlox or hibiscus, wild asters, and 

 golden-rods. From bulbs choose crocus, tulip, daffodil, 



narcissus, lily of the valley, 

 lily. 



Some climbers are cobaea, 

 honeysuckle, Virginia 

 creeper, English ivy, Boston 

 ivy, cypress vine, hyacinth 

 bean, climbing nasturtiums, 

 and roses. 



To make your plants do 

 best, cultivate them care- 

 fully. Allow no weeds to 

 grow among them and do 

 not let the surface of the 

 soil dry into a hard crust. 



FIG. 243. A WINDOW GARDEN Bew *re, however, of stirring 



the soil too deep. Loosen- 

 ing the soil about the roots interrupts the feeding of the 

 plant and does harm. Climbing plants may be trained to 

 advantage on low woven-wire fences. These are especially 

 serviceable for sweet peas and climbing nasturtiums. Do 

 not let the plants go to seed, since seeding is a heavy 

 drain on nourishment. Moreover, the plant has served 

 its end when it makes seed and is ready then to stop 

 blossoming. You should therefore pick off the old flowers 

 to prevent their developing seeds. This will cause many 



