54 Notes ajid Gleanings. 



Sowing in spring may take place at the end of March, or early in April. An 

 open situation out of doors should be chosen, and the ground well dug and pul- 

 verized, working in a liberal dressing of leaf-mould. The soil most suitable is 

 a sandy loam : if heavy, it may be improved by a free admixture of sharp sand. 

 The surface having been made fine, place seeds about an inch apart, and cover 

 them with fine soil. All weeds must be removed ; and in June the plants will be 

 fit to turn out in beds. Plant in beds four feet wide, five rows in a bed, and the 

 plants six inches from each other in the rows. If the weather be dry, give the 

 seed-bed a good soaking before taking up the seedlings, which must be done 

 with a fork. The bed for planting ought to be well and deeply dug, adding leaf- 

 mould or rotten manure liberally. Water well at planting ; and, if dry and hot, 

 shade with mats over hoops for a few days until the plants recover. Occasional 

 waterings will need to be given in dry weather, and the bed must be kept clear 

 of weeds. In October the plants will be strong, and fit to plant out in their 

 blooming quarters ; or they may be left where they are ; only every alternate row 

 and plant must be removed, and either planted in the borders or in another bed, 

 which will, of course, be equal in extent to that of the bed in which the plants 

 are left undisturbed. Between the rows, a mulching of half-rotten leaves or 

 manure should be given early in November : and, in spring, fork that neatly into 

 the soil, if the plants are left to bloom in the beds ; or the plants may be taken 

 up carefully, and planted out. 



Seed sown during June requires the same treatment ; i.e., to be sown in the 

 open ground : and, when the seedlings have two rough leaves, take them up, and 

 plant out six inches apart every way in beds, shading and watering until estab- 

 lished. The planting-out will cause the production of fine fibrous roots foi 

 taking up early in October ; and the plants should then be placed in pots large 

 enough to hold the roots without cramping. The pots ought to be set on coal- 

 ashes in a cold frame, giving abundance of air, and protection from frost and 

 heavy rains by drawing on the lights at such times, with an occasional covering 

 of mats in severe frost. The plants should be shifted into larger pots as may 

 be necessary, — that is, before they become pot-bound ; and, being well hardened 

 off, may be planted out in April. 



The seed may also be sown as soon as ripe in pans of good light soil, and be 

 placed on a mild hot-bed of from 70° to 75°. When the seedlings appear, keep 

 them near the glass, and give air plentifully. When they have two rough leaves, 

 pot them off singly in three-inch pots, in a compost of light turfy loam two-thirds 

 and one-third leaf-mould, keeping them close in the frame, with proper moisture 

 and shade till established ; and then harden them off, and remove them to a cold 

 frame, where they are to remain during the winter, being shifted into larger pots 

 as may be necessary, and planting out at the end of April. 



The seedlings will bloom in the year following the sowing of the seed, and 

 should have proper care with respect to staking, tying, and watering. The object 

 being to preserve good varieties, and to discard the bad, remove every single or 

 semi-double flower, and pull up the plant unless a new color or something worth 

 perpetuating be seen ; also every plant with thin-petaled flowers. By discard- 

 ing worthless seedlings as soon as they bloom, you prevent the flowers of the 



