THE PARLOR GARDENER. 59 



gation by seeds will give a just idea of how you 

 should proceed with any others that you may 

 have a fancy for. 



Sowing of Azalea Seed. 

 Let us begin with azaleas. Procure seeds of 

 the most admired variety ; they will not always 

 produce a shrub exactly like that from which the 

 seeds were gathered. But so much the better. 

 When your young plants bloom for the first time, 

 you will be agreeably surprised to find remarkable 

 novelties, either in the larger size of the corolla or 

 in the brilliancy or delicacy of the colors. Those 

 whose bloom does not seem to you satisfactory 

 and this will be the smaller number can be 

 made use of as stocks to receive the grafts of such 

 varieties as you may prefer. Take care not to 

 cover the azalea seed with more than the eighth 

 of an inch of earth, which you must keep con- 

 stantly damp, without excess of moisture, by water- 

 ing often and giving very little water at a time. 

 In your portable greenhouse the pots containing 

 the azalea seeds come in contact only with air 

 loaded with moisture, which being seldom changed, 



