22 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



is smaller still, but it is more suitable for edgings than 

 anything else in the garden. 



The seedsmen offer the various types in separate 

 colours as well as in mixture, so that gardeners can 

 make special arrangements if they wish. As a large 

 number of plants can be raised from a packet of seed, 

 the cost of which need not exceed sixpence, and may 

 be as little as a penny, the Aster is one of the cheapest 

 of flowers to grow in quantity. Whole beds can be 

 had for a few pence. 



Culture. Little skill is required to grow the plants, 

 the principal points being to keep them uncrowded 

 and free from black-fly while in the seedling stage. A 

 simple way of getting a stock of plants is to fill some 

 shallow boxes with fine soil in March, draw drills half 

 an inch deep and three inches apart, sprinkle the seeds 

 thinly, and place the boxes in a frame or greenhouse. 

 In the absence of both, stand the boxes on a layer of 

 ashes in the garden in April, and cover with squares 

 of glass. Immerse the boxes in a tub of water as deep 

 as the level of the soil when the latter becomes dry. 

 Seedlings raised in a greenhouse should be kept on a 

 shelf close to the glass, in order to prevent their getting 

 drawn or weak ; but Asters are best in an unheated 

 frame. Abundance of air should be given in fine 

 weather. 



When the seedlings have developed sufficiently to 

 begin crowding, they should be set three inches apart 

 all ways in other boxes, or they will spoil each other. 

 They can remain in the second boxes until the ground 

 is ready for them in May or June. If they are attacked 

 by black-fly (and a sharp lookout should always be 

 kept for this injurious aphis), sprinkle them with water 

 in which a handful of quassia chips, which chemists 



