of ^>eetifii 



47 



of bloom until frost. One flower-head will furnish all 

 the seed one is likely to want. 



All seeds should be gathered when ripe and the 

 foliage dry. They should be exposed to the air in 

 any convenient receptacle, except in the case of the 

 Thunbergias, Balsams, and others having pods which 

 snap open and expel the seeds to a distance. These 

 should be saved in paper bags until perfectly dry, 

 when they may be freed from their husks by sifting 

 or winnowing, and stored in paper bags, envelopes, 

 or boxes. It pays to save the florists' envelopes for 

 this purpose, as they are already labelled. Never put 

 seeds away unlabelled, and it is a good idea to add 

 to the label the date, period of germination, with 

 the colour of the bloom, height, and other data of 

 interest. It is still better to keep a book of such 

 information to which one may refer from year to year. 

 There are frequent doubts concerning some opera- 

 tion the season of starting the hotbed, the time it 

 took a certain class of bulbs to bloom after potting, 

 and the like. In all such cases the note-book offers 

 unimpeachable evidence. 



