MAY 69 



which are not sufficiently self-assertive to give the 

 appearance of being entitled to their position, and 

 because they are timid and small they are plucked 

 up and cast away as worthless. 



Early in May the thinning of annuals should be 

 seen to, if it has not been done before, for nothing 

 in flowers has so short a stay as the bed of annuals 

 which suffers from overcrowding. Many things 

 grown under glass can now be hardened, but this 



DUCKS AND .'HENS, AND A PIG OR TWCK 



is a process which should be undertaken with some 

 circumspection. To thrust boxes of petunias out 

 suddenly into the external elements is a certain 

 check to their career, and the hardening should be 

 accomplished by slow degrees, first in a cold frame, 

 closed at night, and afterwards through various 

 stages of semi-protection culminating towards the 

 end of the month in complete exposure. The time 

 for planting them out cannot be determined except 

 by experience. There may come a series of warm, 



