64 STATE PO:^[OLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



balsams, stocks, pansies, etc., make a more satisfactory growth 

 if started in seed boxes and transplanted into the beds while 

 phlox, putunas, candytuft, alyssum, etc., are better sown in the 

 open bed as their roots are so fine they are often injured by 

 transplanting. Keep the soil loose and free from weeds, break- 

 ing up after each hard dashing rain. To keep a bed looking 

 well cut all the flowers as soon as they begin to fade and trim off 

 all straggling branches that spoil the symetrical form of the 

 plants. If the plants are too thick thin them not, as it is a mis- 

 take we often make by crowding and the result is spindling 

 plants with fewer flowers. Of annuals there is an endless 

 variety to select from ; the nasturtiums and sweet pea should be 

 planted early, but for the majority of them we should wait until 

 the ground is warmer. 



In the cultivation of the sweet pea, that beautiful climber 

 which we so much admire, many sometimes make a mistake in 

 loosening the soil about the roots. x\fter the seed is sown the 

 earth should be pressed down firm and hard, and never loosened, 

 unless it is a hard, clayey soil. But as the season advances it is 

 a good plan to add more soil which should always be pressed 

 down firmly. Experience has taught me never to plant my 

 sweet peas two years in succession on the same ground. No 

 flower garden is complete without the summer flowering bulbs. 

 Of these the dahlia leads, followed closely by the gladiolus to 

 which we may add the canna, the tuberose, tuberous begonia 

 an.d many others. After the first frost comes these bulbs should 

 be carefully dried and packed in dry sand or sawdust to preserve 

 them for next year's planting. Let us not forget the standby 

 of the old time garden, — the perennials ; their beauty and growth 

 are bringing them again into general cultivation. They require 

 little attention and respond generously to increased care and 

 thorough cultivation. It is a good plan to raise the plants in 

 the vegetable garden the first year where they can be frequently 

 hoed and kept free from weeds. In the fall after the annuals 

 have been killed by the frost they can be removed to the flower- 

 bed where they are to bloOm next year, being careful to set them 

 a little deeper than they were before. On the approach of cold 

 weather cover with a coarse litter to protect them from being 

 thrown out by the freezing and thawing during the fall and 

 spring. Of course no true lover of flowers would think of a 



