PROPAGATION OF HARDY FLOWERS. 35 



all places, and will be pretty sure to come up among- the young- 

 plants. But these being in drills, we can easily tell the plant from 

 the weed, and nothing- is required but a little persevering weeding. 

 In these little beds the finest perennials will come up beautifully, 

 and may be left exactly where sown till the time arrives for trans- 

 planting them to the rockery, spring-garden, or mixed border. This 

 is a better way than sowing in pots, where they are liable to much 

 vicissitude, and from which they require to be "potted off." Of 

 course in the case of a very rare or admired kind, the seedlings 

 might be thinned a little and the thinnings dibbled into a nursery 

 bed, but by sowing rather thinly the plants will be quite at home 

 where first sown till the time arrives for planting them out finally. 



I am convinced that in finely pulverized earth, with, if convenient, 

 an inch or so of cocoa fibre and sand between the drills to prevent 

 the ground getting hard and dry, much better results will be 

 obtained than by sowing in pots. In the open air they come up 

 much more vigorously, and never suffer from transplantation or 

 change of temperature afterwards. Nevertheless, as few will ven- 

 ture the very finest and rarest kinds of seed in the open air, how to 

 treat them in frames is of some importance, and the following 

 observations on this matter are by Mr. Niven, of the Hull Botanic 

 Garden, one of the most successful cultivators of alpine plants, who 

 possesses, chiefly in pots, one of the most complete collections ever 

 made. They were communicated to the " Gardener's Chronicle." 



" Much disappointment is often experienced in raising the seeds 

 of perennial plants, and blame is attributed to the vendor of the 

 seeds, that ought, in reality to be awarded nearer home. Presuming 

 that the selection of the seeds is made, and that the seeds themselves 

 are in the hands of the purchaser, the operation of sowing should 

 \ take place as early as may be practicable in March. First of all, 

 the requisite number of five-inch or six-inch pots should be obtained, 

 so that each seed packet can have a separate pot for itself. Some nice 

 light soil, with a fair amount of sand and' leaf-mould therein (if 

 obtainable), should be prepared and passed through a coarse sieve, 

 keeping a sharp eye after worms, and at once removing them j the 

 rough part which remains in the sieve should be placed above the 

 drainage in the bottom of the pots to the extent of two-thirds of 

 the depth, filling the remaining third with the fine soil ; the whole 

 should then be well pressed down, so that the surface for the recep- 

 tion of the seed should be half an inch below the brim of the pot, 



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