. SPRING SOWING 43 



trouble with Sweet Peas, but it will be commonly found 

 imperative in exhibition culture, with which my experienced 

 friend and most successful grower, Thomas Stevenson, 

 deals on another page. If under-glass sowing in the 

 autumn is adopted, the utmost care must be taken not to 

 coddle the plants, or the results will prove the reverse of 

 satisfactory ; on the contrary, keep the frames open when- 

 ever the weather will permit of it, so that the growth shall 

 be strong, hardy, and sturdy from the start. 



If mice find their way into the pots, they will eat all 

 the seeds of the best varieties. The simplest method of 

 preventing them is to place a pane of glass over the top 

 of each pot, since it is from the surface, and not from the 

 base, that they work ; needless to say, immediately the seed- 

 lings show through the surface the glass should be re- 

 moved. At that stage danger will come from slugs, which 

 ought to be hunted for and trapped persistently, and birds, 

 which still attack the plants whenever they get the oppor- 

 tunity. An effectual method of preventing them is to 

 have a light framework of fine-meshed galvanised wire, 

 made exactly the same size as the light, and when the 

 latter is off, let the wire be placed in position. Should 

 birds top the plants once it is not of serious moment, 

 but they must not be allowed to do it repeatedly or the 

 plants will die. 



Spring Sowing. Passing now to spring sowing, we 



