ON STOCKS AND WALLFLOWERS 359 



species annua, a various-coloured plant ; the Wall- 

 flower-leaved (which has green instead of hoary leaves) 

 from the white-flowered annual species gr&ca ; the 

 Queen and Brompton both from the evergreen species 

 incana. The hardy annual lilac-coloured species bicornis 

 is the plant popularly known as the Night-scented Stock, 

 from its peculiarity of emitting its sweet odour only at 

 night. The flowers of this plant are not particularly 

 attractive, even when they are fully open at night ; in 

 the daytime they are commonplace, while the whole 

 plant has a draggly look. 



Single Stocks have no charms for most flower-lovers. 

 The blossoms are poor and the habit of the "plant is 

 straggly. But florists have attained such skill in select- 

 ing the flowers from which to gather seed that, although 

 the seed-yielding blossoms are themselves single, eighty 

 to ninety per cent, of their progeny are double. If 

 the grower buys from a seedsman of repute he may 

 calculate on not having more than fifteen plants single 

 in each hundred. It is a good plan to put the plants 

 in clumps of five or six in the beds and borders, so 

 that if a single plant appears it can be pulled out 

 without leaving a serious gap. The plants may be 

 raised and grown in the same way as China Asters. 

 The one serious difficulty in raising Stocks from seed 

 in spring is the liability of the plants to damp off, and 

 they sometimes do this in thousands. The remedy is 

 culture in a frame, abundance of air in favourable 

 weather, and only enough water to prevent flagging. 

 Should the trouble persist in spite of care, it would 

 be well to sterilise the soil by heating it over a fire 

 and letting it cool before sowing. 



The Dwarf German Ten-week, height about a foot, 

 and the Giant Perfection Ten-week, height about 



