SEPTEMBER 165 



imagine they must have different treatment in different 

 soils and climates. Constant practice and study are re- 

 quired. All the autumn things do best here sown late in 

 April or at the beginning of May ; otherwise they come in 

 too early. Early annuals and late annuals are worth grow- 

 ing in this light soil ; but Poppies, Salpiglossis, Migno- 

 nette, and Sweet-peas are, I think, almost the only summer 

 annuals we make room for every year. Eschscholtzias and 

 Musk sow themselves, and only have to be thinned. The 

 common Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a lovely foliage-plant 

 when well grown and not crowded up. 



It is all-important to remember in the sowing of 

 seeds from January to September, be it in heat or out 

 of doors, and whether perennials, biennials, annuals, or 

 greenhouse plants, that what we want is not a quantity 

 of seedlings all germinating into life in masses, but a few 

 fine healthy plants. The larger and cheaper the packet 

 of seed, the more thinly they should be sown. In the 

 case of rare and delicate plants it is well to sow only one 

 seed in each pot, the smallest that can be got (I have 

 never seen any so small as the French ones), sink them 

 in a box with cocoanut fibre, which prevents the 

 necessity of constant watering. Seedlings, like all other 

 plants, are the better for using nothing but rain-water, if 

 possible. If the sowing is done in a seed bed out of 

 doors, and if the weather is very dry, it is best to soak 

 the ground well first before sowing, and then cover the 

 tiny seed beds with fine gravel, leaving the small stones 

 in, as they give great protection to the seeds from the 

 heat of the sun. We have all noticed the vigour with 

 which self-sown seeds grow in a gravel path. Towards 

 the end of this month, or at the beginning of the next, is 

 the time to take the early layers off the Carnations and 

 to re-make the beds, or, at any rate, to plant them in 

 clearly-named rows in the kitchen garden, so that they 



