ANNUALS AND BIENNIALS 93 



ashes or sand will be useful. During the Winter the soil should not 

 become dry in the basement, but should be moistened every month or 

 oftener, according to its condition. It must not be kept too wet, 

 otherwise it will sour badly. 



Seed must always be sown thinly ; thick sowing is a general cause 

 of failure with annuals. Some seeds, as Petunia, Verbena, ornamental 

 Tobacco, Salpiglossis and Portulaca, are very minute, and should not 

 be covered with soil. A newspaper and a pane of glass placed over the 

 pot or box will retain the moisture and keep the sunlight from the 

 seed. When the seed is not covered, the soil should be thoroughly 

 watered before sowing. Larger seeds are best sown hi rows, and should 

 be covered with soil about three times their diameter. To keep out 

 the light and prevent the pots from drying, the use of newspaper over the 

 pots is excellent. As soon as the seedlings get above the soil, they 

 should be given the best light conditions, otherwise they will become 

 very spindling and weak. Good light and rather cool conditions in- 

 doors, together with thorough but not too frequent watering, should 

 produce stocky plants. 



Excepting such as Mignonette, Sweet Sultan, Love-in-a-Mist, 

 Heliotrope, and the Poppy-like plants, as Eschscholtzia, Argemone and 

 Papaver, most annuals can be successfully transplanted. When 

 seeds of these latter are sown they are best placed in very small pots, 

 using only two or three seeds in a pot. 



TRANSPLANTIN G . Seedlings may be transplanted when very small ; 

 in fact, after the appearance of several leaves, if the plants are becom- 

 ing crowded, they should be transplanted into boxes about three inches 

 deep, setting them several inches apart each way. The earli- 

 ness of sowing the seed will govern the amount and need for trans- 

 planting. Transplanting is beneficial to many seedlings because it 

 causes the root tips to branch, making a well balanced root system. 



TIME TO Sow OUT-OF-DOORS. When the soil is warmed a little 

 in the Spring most annuals can be sown directly in the open soil; but 

 a few are tender, that is, they wilt stand very little cold and should 

 never be planted until all danger of frost is past. Among these are: 

 Amaranth, Browallia, Celosia, Torenia, California Poppy, Gourds, 

 Butterfly Flower. These are all tender. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. The soil should not merely be loosened 

 by a rake, but if good flowers are wanted, thorough preparation should 

 be given and decayed manure added. After many of the annuals have 

 grown two or three leaves tall, they will benefit by being pinched back; 

 in other words, the main shoot should be cut out. This will cause the 

 plants to become branchy and bear three times as many flowers. Es- 

 pecially successful is pinching such plants as Stock, Nemophila, Butter- 



