322 FLOWERS ALL THE YEAR ROUND 



improvement it has undergone in the hands of a few able growers. 

 The immense demand for it is easily met by raising large numbers 

 from seed, and this mode of growing it will naturally increase, 

 because of the small cost of seedlings, especially as a good strain 

 produces flowers of great excellence. A sowing in this month will 

 supply plants sufficiently forward to bloom at the usual time. Some 

 growers begin in January, and provided they have room, and the 

 work can be followed up without risking a check at any stage, no 

 objection can be raised to the practice. For most gardens, however, 

 February is safer, and March will not be too late. Sow thinly in pots 

 or pans, filled with light rich soil, and finished with a very thin covering 

 of fine leaf-mould. When the seedlings are about an inch high, pot 

 them separately, taking especial care of the weakly specimens, for 

 these in point of colour may prove to be the gems of the collection. 

 After transplanting, a little extra attention will help them to a fresh 

 start. 



DIANTHUS. -All the varieties may be raised in about 55 or 60 

 of heat, but immediately the seed has germinated, it is important to 

 put the pots in a lower temperature, or the seedlings will become 

 soft. They should also be transferred to seed-pans when large 

 enough to handle. 



FUCHSIA. It is not generally known that Fuchsias can be satis- 

 factorily flowered from seed in six or seven months, and from a good 

 strain there will be seedlings well worth growing. Sow thinly on a 

 close soil, and give the pots a temperature of about 70. While 

 quite small, transfer the plants to the edges of well-drained pots, and 

 later on pot them singly into a compost consisting largely of leaf- 

 mould until the flowering size is reached, when a proportion of 

 decayed cow-manure should be added. The Fuchsia is a gross 

 feeder, and must have abundance of food and water. Aphis and 

 Thrips are persistent enemies of this plant, and will need constant 

 attention. 



GERANIUM seed may be sown at any time of the year, but there 

 are good reasons why the months of February and August should 

 be chosen. Seedlings raised now will make fine plants by the end 

 of June, and they will begin to flower in August. They are 

 peculiarly fresh and robust in habit, and from a reliable strain 

 there will be a considerable proportion of handsome specimens, with 

 the possibility of some valuable novelty. Sow in pans filled with 

 soil somewhat rough in texture, and the surface need not be very 

 smooth. Lightly cover the seed with fine loam. To have plants 



