GARDENING BY MYSELF. 33 



Other and true leaves, as if first, second, 

 and third had got all mixed up, and so came 

 out in a hurry together. But once fairly 

 aroused and in motion, the little plant kept 

 on. And now, transplanted to the garden, 

 you would not know it from the rest ; un- 

 less, looking closer, you spied the shapeless 

 little tuft that clothes the foot of the stem. 



You will find, by this time, that the 

 clusters of tulips and hyacinths, just past 

 their beauty, are decidedly in the way ; tak- 

 ing room that you want to occupy at once 

 with other plants. I have seen it stated, 

 somewhere, that if the roots are lifted care- 

 fully, and set in a trench in some reserve 

 corner and well covered with earth, they 

 will mature their leaves almost as well as if 

 undisturbed. But I like '' quite" much bet- 

 ter than "almost," and have never tried 

 this plan with any of mine. It seems to me 

 that even if the old bulbs do not suffer, the 

 young ones, just forming, must. A better 

 way, I think, is to plant out your seedling 

 stocks and asters and petunias among the 



