April 



the open, put them, if possible, in sandy loam, exposed to full 

 sunshine. 



Mignonette. Successional sowings may be made up to the 

 end of June. Give each plant plenty of room. By removing the 

 seed-pots as fast as they are formed flowering is greatly prolonged. 



Nasturtium. Both dwarf and tall varieties are usually treated 

 as hardy annuals, with the exception of the date of sowing. None 

 of the Nasturtiums are quite hardy, and if sown in March the plants 

 are liable to destruction by late frosts. It is therefore usual to sow 

 in April or May, according to the district, and the growth is so rapid 

 that the plants are full of bloom before the summer has far advanced. 

 Sow on poor soil always. 



The Tropceolum canariense (Canary Creeper) may be raised 

 in pans from a March sowing for planting out in May, or seed can 

 be sown in the open during April. 



Petunia. Plants from the first sowing will be ready for small 

 pots, and they must be kept going until the 48- or 32-size is reached. 

 All Petunias rebel if root-bound, and the double varieties are 

 especially impatient in this respect. After each transfer give them 

 a sheltered, shady position and attention with water until they start 

 again. Good drainage and careful ventilation are essential, or the 

 foliage will lose colour. Seedlings intended for beds may be trans- 

 ferred direct from the seed-pans into 6o-sized pots. 



Picotee and Pink. See the culture prescribed for Carnation. 



Ricinus. At quite the end of the month or the beginning of 

 May, seed put into the open ground will produce splendid specimens 

 if treated with a lavish hand. Take out the soil for a depth of eigh- 

 teen inches or two feet, and fill the space to within three inches of 

 the surface with a mixture of rich soil and well-decayed manure. 

 Upon each bed thus made place three Ricinus beans in a triangle, 

 and when they are up, thin to one plant at each station, and this, 

 of course, the strongest. This mode of growing Ricinus will astonish 

 those who have been accustomed to allow the plant to struggle through 

 existence in the ordinary soil of a g'arden border. Plentiful supplies 

 of water must be given in dry weather, and stakes will be neces- 

 sary to save the specimens from injury by wind. It is too early for 

 putting out those raised in heat. 



Stock, Ten-week. Where the requisite quantity of seed has 

 not been sown, it must be done promptly. If there happens to be 

 a cold frame on a spent hot-bed to spare, it will exactly suit the 

 seedlings when they are ready for transferring. Make the surface 



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