SOWING SEEDS OF HERBACEOUS PLANTS 161 



in the fact that everybody can grow them; that they absolutely require 

 neither glass, flower-pots, compost, sticks nor shades, and in Cali- 

 fornia places with well distributed rainfall, not even watering. Of 

 course these accessories add to the beauty and length of life of a 

 plant, as just suggested, but for those who have no desire to go to 

 much trouble or expense, there is a fertile field in the cultivation of 

 herbaceous plants, as they yield abundant satisfaction for a minimum 

 of labor. Then, another consideration is their cheapness; it is simply 

 marvelous to see how much can be grown from a dollar's worth of 

 seeds and what an endless amount of pleasure will be found in the 

 truly beautiful display. In a very few weeks a wild waste can be 

 transformed into carpets of flowers. 



But though the beginner is urged to take to these plants for joy 

 and floral education, it must be admitted that, after awhile, many will 

 grow indifferent, even in some cases going so far as to call them 

 weedy and short-lived things. So they are, many of them, while 

 others again cannot be surpassed by any other class in delicacy of 

 "beauty, and none can be found that will give such liberal returns 

 in gay display of color, also in the great variety of both character 

 and color. 



Hints for Open Sowing. If you are on a hurry-up job, you need 

 only break up the soil with plow or spade, rake down decently and 

 sow the seeds covering less or more, according to the size of it, 

 as suggested in Chapter VII. 



It is not usually desirable to sow the seeds in lines or rows for 

 ease of cultivation as you should garden vegetables or flowers grown 

 specially for cut blooms. It produces a much better effect to have 

 the different flowers in groups or patches and arranging these accord- 

 to the stature of the plant and its colors which are indicated upon 

 the seedman's packet enclosing the seed, as will be mentioned below. 

 An Oakland grower gives these pertinent suggestions for defining 

 and placing the different clumps or patches: 



"Get some long strips of thin wood which will bend into an oval 

 hoop. Make several different sizes, as the larger-growing plants 

 will want more room than the smaller ones. Take the hoop and 

 press down on the soil so that a mark will be left, inside of which 

 sow the seeds. Leave a space between the clumps, if possible, equiva- 

 lent to the width of the hoop. 



"After the plants are up, do not -leave them in a crowded state. 

 Thin them out ruthlessly to about six inches apart for the small- 

 growing plants and nine inches for the stronger-growing annuals. 

 It will pay to do this. It looks like waste, but the final results are 

 better." 



