ANNUALS 253 



come if the best results are to be secured. Very few Annuals 

 should be nearer than nine inches to each other when they come 

 into flower; and the amateur who makes it a rule to thin to that 

 distance the first year, and bases subsequent practice on the ex- 

 perience which he gains in his first season, will be successful. 



Stopping or pinching need not, as a rule, be practised, because 

 the majority of the kinds will develop a naturally bushy habit if 

 they are thinly grown. 



Hoeing among the plants is splendid practice. It takes but 

 a few minutes a week to run a hoe 

 among the occupants of a bed when 

 there is a clear space between the 

 plants, and some order in the arrange- 

 ment of them. Hoeing cleans and 

 aerates the soil, and promotes rapid 

 growth. Staking will not be required 

 in the majority of cases. If needed at 

 all it will be in connection with a few 

 tall, straggly things that are growing 

 in wind-swept spots. Sometimes one 

 bamboo or other stake attached to the 

 main stem will suffice. If not, it will 

 be advisable to chop a few spray ey 

 branches out of the tops of Pea sticks, and utilise them. 



If there is one practice which conduces more than another to 

 continuous flowering, it is the picking off of fading flowers before 

 they have time to ripen seed. The logical conclusion from this, of 

 course, is that if flowers must be regularly cut it is just as well to 

 take them while they are fresh enough to be suitable for room 

 decoration, and so not only anticipate seeding, but make use of 

 the flowers. That is so. All Annuals are not suitable for vases, 

 but many are. 



Watering will be advantageous in dry weather, but as regular 



ANNUALS STAKING 



A shows how to stake weakly-growing 

 Annuals in clumps ; B shows how to 

 stake tall-growing Annuals; C shows 

 how to prepare the tall stakes, which 

 should be painted dark green. 



