THE NURSERY 35 



struct! ve animal life. We sow tender annuals late in 

 March, keeping the lights down save for an occasional 

 airing on fine days and covering them with mats at 

 night. The perennials we sow in late April. To pro- 

 tect the seedlings from the too fierce attentions of the sun 

 we use a light framework of inch strips nailed an inch 

 apart to a somewhat heavier bottom and top strip. 

 These are made to fit the frame sections, and remain on 

 after the glass is permanently lifted upon the arrival of 

 warm weather. Thus the seedlings are always pro- 

 tected from the sun, which would otherwise cause the 

 speedy evaporation of the moisture, and also from the 

 beating of our heavy spring and summer rains. 



When the seedlings have stretched themselves to a 

 size requiring more room, other quarters must be given 

 them. The tender annuals are thinned out and trans- 

 planted to another frame, but the more deliberate per- 

 ennials are not moved until they may be set out in 

 the nursery, which is usually some time in June. A 

 cloudy day is the best for this task, and we use a small 

 mason's trowel to dig up the tiny plants, depositing 

 them in a lard pail of water to prevent drying of the 

 tender rootlets. Small holes are dug with the mason's 

 trowel, deep enough to take the little plants without 

 bending, and are filled part way with soil, well watered, 

 and the rest filled up with dry earth. If the weather is 

 hot and dry, we cover choice or difficult seedlings with 

 inverted flower pots during the heat of the day and 



