ANNUALS 257 



are very fragrant, and they are easy to grow. That other perfumed 

 favourite the Sweet Pea has a chapter to itself. 



The half-hardy Annuals are, as we have already mentioned, 

 raised in a frame or greenhouse in early spring, and planted in 

 the garden when the weather is warm enough say in May or the 

 early part of June. If the amateur has no glass he must raise 

 his Stocks, Asters, Phloxes, Marigolds, and the rest (unless, indeed, 

 he buys what seedlings he wants) by sowing out of doors, but 

 this is not safe before the beginning of May. 



Those to be started under glass are best sown in boxes, and if 

 a special compost can be prepared it 

 should consist of equal parts of loam 

 and leaf-mould, with an eighth of 

 coarse sand. It should be pressed 

 firmly into boxes three or four inches 

 deep, which can be bought from a 

 grocer or oil-and-colour merchant, as 

 a rule, at a very cheap rate. Sow in 

 drills about half an inch deep, with 

 the soil in a moist but not sodden 

 state, and cover the boxes with squares 

 of glass if possible, but, with or with- 

 out glass, with sheets of newspaper, which may be removed when 

 germination has taken place. 



If the plants are being raised in a house, they should be placed 

 on a shelf near the roof glass ; otherwise they will get drawn and 

 weak. Remove them from the seed rows before they grow thick 

 enough to spoil each other, and set them out three inches apart 

 in other boxes. By the time they have grown sufficiently to again 

 threaten overcrowding, the weather will be warm enough for them 

 to be planted out of doors. 



The remarks as to soil and planting made about hardy Annuals 

 apply to the half-hardy. A deep, rich soil is not necessary for 



How TO RAISB TENDER ANNUALS 



A, a hotbed ; B, cocoa-nut fibre, ashes, or soil ; 

 C, seedlings in pots and pans ; D, seedlings 

 in boxes. 



