THE ECONOMY OF SEED-SOWING 111 



well as that of the more familiar biennials and perennials, in penny 

 packets. There are many firms who issue catalogues containing 

 five thousand or six thousand varieties of seeds, every one of 

 which can be obtained in this way. The number of seeds in each 

 packet, of course, varies with the rarity of the variety in demand, 

 but, if a reputable firm be chosen, never with the quality of the 

 seed. The advantages of this plan are obvious. It enables the 

 amateur to obtain just sufficient seed for his immediate require- 

 ments, and while it allows him to practise a very necessary 

 economy in this direction, it gives him the opportunity to spend 

 more liberally in the purchase of choice plants that might other- 

 wise not be within the range of his, possibly, limited means. 



As has already been indicated, it is quite possible, if a little 

 judicious forethought be employed, to stock a garden with 

 annuals that will provide a display of bloom for several months 

 of the year. An objection sometimes raised against annuals is 

 that they are weedy and short-lived. The objection has some 

 point if they be chosen indiscriminately, and if no regard be paid 

 either to the period of the summer in which they flower or to the 

 length of time that is necessary to bring them to maturity. They 

 are not, however, all so short-lived but that by the practice of 

 the principle of " succession " the beds and borders of a small 

 garden need ever be without its annuals in bloom from April to 

 October. If a bed of candytuft be sown towards the end of March 

 it will provide a rich display of colouring either crimson, carmine, 

 deep purple or snowy white for several weeks, and then, if when 

 the candytuft begins to wane its place is taken by young aster 

 plants that have been raised under glass, there will speedily be 

 another display beside which not even the most tenderly nurtured 

 of orthodox bedding plants can bear comparison. Again, if 

 long-lasting annuals be in question, it is surely only necessary 

 to place in the scale sweet peas, tropseolums, Tom Thumb 

 nasturtiums, and German scabious, to mention only one or two 

 that readily occur to mind. For early spring we have the wall- 

 flower, the forget-me-not and the lupin, and from midsummer on- 

 wards the poppy, Virginian stock, eschscholtzia, godetia, larkspur, 



