24 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



if planted deeper for the sake of appearance. Young plants 

 the sooner removed the better after out of the seed leaf, pro- 

 vided the weather be favorable. Seeds will keep several 

 years with care, with some exceptions. The China Aster 

 will not keep well over one year ; the vitality of most, if 

 kept dry, will germinate in due season, unless the weather 

 should be such as to place it beyond the control of the ama- 

 teur ; but his assiduity will do much in assisting nature in 

 her developments. 



MANURING AND POTTING. 



There appears to be a great diversity of opinion on the 

 subject of manuring ; to point out the existing difference 

 would only perplex the amateur in his operations in flori- 

 culture 5 indeed, it would take an experienced chemist to 

 elucidate the subject thoroughly. The word manure is 

 generally applied to what is taken from stables, whether 

 horse or cow excrements, mixed with straw and other litter ; 

 such is not always the case. Manure, in gardening,, is 

 meant to convey the idea to enrich and fertilize the soil in 

 the garden ; still it must be observed what is food for one 

 kind of soil is not so for another ; therefore there is a great 

 difference in manure. If the soil be a marl then the ap- 

 plication of sand would constitute a manure to make it fri- 

 able, that is, suitable to receive plants. There are other 

 kinds that would make the soil useful,, which none but a 

 chemist can tell by analyzing it. Horse and cow manures 



