96 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



greater convenience. The boxes should be from 4 to 5 

 inches deep, and the seeds should be placed about 2 inches 

 apart, covering them with | inch of soil. They will germinate 

 even quicker in boxes than in pots, owing, no doubt, to the 

 greater amount of soil and a more equal degree of moisture. 



When sowing in pots avoid using new pots, for on 

 one or two occasions I have found when the young roots 

 have come in contact with the sides they have been 

 killed outright (possibly through something that has been 

 used in the manufacture of the pots). This was even after 

 the pots had been soaked for an hour or two in a tank of 

 water before using them. 



Sowing Out-of-doors in Autumn. Only in very favoured 

 localities can this method be practised with any degree of 

 success for exhibition purposes, but where the soil is light 

 and the atmosphere generally fairly dry and free from 

 fog, autumn sowings out-of-doors are usually productive 

 of early flowers. I have not found them quite as early 

 as spring-sown plants indeed they are sometimes very 

 much later in blooming than those planted out from pots, 

 notwithstanding the fact that the soil and situation are all 

 that could be desired for the purpose. Another point worth 

 consideration is the amount of seed necessary for outdoor 

 sowing, for one must make an allowance of 50 per cent, at 

 the least for the ravages of birds, slugs, mice, and frost. I 

 cannot recommend the adoption of this method except in 



