FLOWERS FOR EXHIBITION 37 



a frame, he can choose his own time better than if he 

 is obtaining them from a nursery. The bed should be 

 marked off in lines 12 to 15 inches apart, the plants being 

 placed in these lines about 9 inches apart from each other. 

 If the beds are narrow, it is well to arrange to have one or 

 two lines of each variety, which brings all the labels along 

 the front of the bed ; a broad board should be placed 

 across the bed, on which the planter should stand when 

 planting. With an ordinary garden trowel a hole must be 

 scooped out about 4 inches in depth, the plant laid care- 

 fully in, and made firm by the aid of the fingers. All blooms 

 and buds which may be on the plant at planting time 

 should be removed, and if there is the slightest trace of 

 green or brown fly on the plants, each plant should be 

 dipped in a solution of soft soap and water 2 oz. of soap 

 to one gallon of water before being planted. The plant 

 ought, of course, to be turned upside down and the foliage 

 only immersed, not the roots. Watering after planting will 

 depend entirely on the weather conditions which prevail. 

 If showers are plentiful no artificial watering may be re- 

 quired, but otherwise the plants must be watered fre- 

 quently. No definite instructions can be given regarding 

 this, but the grower's own judgment must be his guide. 

 The chief object to be kept in view is to get the plants 

 to start away quickly into strong and vigorous growth. 

 Vigorous plants are seldom attacked by insects. People used 



