CHAP. IV. ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 287 



insect, assume a cankered appearance, and become utterly worth- 

 less. I have raised numbers year after year, but never yet 

 succeeded in obtaining a single satisfactory spike of blossom, 

 nor during several years that I have attended the horticultural 

 shows in Calcutta have I seen one there. 



The seed should be sown in October, in the open ground, in 

 a spot protected from the effect of both sun and rain; when 

 sown in pots the young seedlings are exceedingly apt to damp 

 off. The soil should be sandy and light, and the young plants 

 should be starved of water till about two inches high, when they 

 should be transplanted into very rich soil. Sir J. Paxton remarks, 

 " those which remain where sown will be the better plants, as 

 Stocks are very much checked by transplanting." This, indeed, 

 accords with most persons' experience. One thing moreover is 

 certain, that the attempt to move a Stock when in blossom, or 

 on the eve of blossoming, is at once to destroy it. 



Koniga. 



K. maritima SWEET ALISON OR ALYSSUM. A dwarf, pretty, 

 unpretending annual, bearing small conical heads of little white 

 flowers, that emit a pleasing honey-like fragrance. Sow in large 

 patches in October. The plant will be in full blossom by the 

 middle of December. 



Iberis. 



1. I. odorata WHITE CANDY TUFT. Of easy culture, thriving 

 well everywhere ; plants raised in clumps in the border present 

 a large pleasing mass of white blossom. Sow in October. 



2. I. jimbellata PURPLE CANDY TUFT. Of somewhat larger 

 growth than the preceding ; produces handsome showy masses 

 of pale purple blossom, but sometimes rather shy of doing so. 



Malcomia. 



M. maritima VIRGINIA STOCK. A dwarf, unpretending an- 

 nual, well adapted for an edging or to be planted in clumps, 

 producing then in effective masses its small lavender-coloured 

 flowers. Sow in October in enriched soil. 



Erysimum. 



1. E. Perofskianum YELLOW STOCK. Kesembles an orange- 

 coloured Wallflower, but with much larger heads of blossom. 

 Sow in the border in October : no care required in its culture. 



