32 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



flowers, filled with fragrance. A famous grower of them in Ireland, the 

 Rev. Denis Knox of Virginian Rectory, says, in The Garden : " I at 

 present possess in quantity six varieties : the French white ; the Scotch, 

 or Eglinton, as it is often called (this kind has, I may say, always a quaint 

 trace of lilac at the top of its spike) ; the true old pure double white ; 

 the pale lilac, the most vigorous grower of all ; the true old lilac, now 

 nearly extinct (I was searching for it for thirty years, and at last dis- 

 covered it, to my great joy. in an old garden in Westmeath) ; and the 

 lower-growing, shorter-spiked purple. This, I recollect, used to be 

 called Parkes' Rocket. ... I have had (in a place I lived at thirty 

 years ago) the old pure white and the old lilac twenty-four inches in 

 spike. Here I have never gone beyond nineteen inches. Many people 

 make the mistake of allowing the side shoots to remain on. This gives 

 the plant rather a weedy appearance, and, of course, takes from the 

 length and majesty of the main spike. Double Rockets are essentially 

 plants for rich, deep, moist soils. They are plants that cannot be left 

 alone, or left long in the same soil. Every third year, at least, they 

 should be taken up and divided, placed in new soil, with which plenty 

 of well-rotted cow manure and some lime rubbish have been incorporated. 

 They strike very freely from cuttings put down as soon as they begin 

 to push in the spring, but they divide so satisfactorily that now that I 

 have plenty of them I do not go to the trouble of making cuttings. 

 They have an enemy in the shape of a nasty white grub, which attacks 

 them and eats out the blossom-spikes when they are about nine inches 

 or so high. It must be searched for and destroyed. The curling of 

 the leaves infallibly shows its presence. It would be, indeed, a pity 

 were such delightful flowers as double Rockets to pass out of existence." 



Solomon's Seal. This graceful plant is always welcome. It de- 

 lights in partly shaded garden borders, in nooks amongst shrubs, and 

 the edges of woodland. It may be grouped with the poet's Daffodil 

 and such wood-loving plants as Lily of the Valley. Solomon's Seal has a 

 habit of growth and a kind of beauty that are entirely its own. The 

 stem rises nearly upright and then bends over in a flattened arch that 

 admirably displays the clusters of greenish-white bell-flowers that spring 

 from the axils of the leaves. It is quite one of the best plants to put 

 in shady corners. Any ordinary soil. May flowering. 



Stocks. Stocks are amongst the most popular of flowers, and no 

 wonder, when their beautiful colour and delicious fragrance are remem- 

 bered. Moreover, they are of easy culture, so that amateurs can grow 

 them to perfection. Planted in beds, such choice colours as scarlet, 

 white, rose, and purple, are very telling, and borders, composed of half 

 a dozen or more distinct colours, are also charming, and last in full 

 beauty for a long period. 



The Ten-Week Stock is the most popular, and is quite easy to grow. 

 The seed may be sown at any time from February to May, March being 

 the best month. Sow in shallow boxes or pans, in a compost of light 

 loamy soil, leaf-mould, and silver sand, covering the seed lightly, and 

 making the surface firm and level. Sprinkle with water from a fine 



