Chapter THIRTEEN 



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 Pant* 



C ANNAS may be started any time in April 

 or May. The old-fashioned tall-grow- 

 ing varieties may be put in the open 

 ground early in May. Cover with 

 three or four inches of soil and pro- 

 tect the bed with a little rough manure if the nights 

 are cold, the finest of the manure being left to enrich 

 the soil when the plants are up. 



The large-flowering French and Orchid-flowered 

 Cannas are delicate and very sensitive to cold and 

 damp and should be started in the house with heat. 

 Divide the roots into points and pot separately in 

 leaf-mould, or they may be placed in baskets of sand 

 set in a warm, sunny place and kept constantly moist ; 

 this is the simplest and best way of handling them. 

 Cannas are less likely to mould or decay in sand than 

 in soil, and it is easier to keep a uniform degree of 

 moisture in the baskets than in the small pots. The 

 baskets should be partly filled with fine white sand 

 and the roots laid in place, points up, as closely as 



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