GROUPS OF GARDEN FLOWERS 33 



rosed can, and stand the boxes or pans in a warm moist house or frame. 

 A temperature of 55 degrees is suitable. When the seedlings appear admit 

 air liberally but cautiously, and water them carefully, as if kept too 

 wet they will damp off. When the young plants can be handled, prick 

 them out into other boxes and place them in a sunny frame, shading 

 them from bright sunshine, giving them as much air as the state of the 

 weather will allow, and keeping the soil comfortably moist. Thus treated 

 they will grow quickly and strongly, and will be ready for planting out 

 in open beds or borders early in May. 



Stocks require good rich soil, which should be made firm by treading, 

 and the seedlings should be planted nine inches apart, and the soil pressed 

 firmly round the roots. In planting amateurs often err in selecting only 

 the tallest and strongest plants, and discarding the dwarfer ones. The 

 latter generally have the most fibrous roots, and as a rule produce a far 

 greater percentage of double flowers than the former. After planting, 

 mulch between them with very short stable litter or old mushroom bed 

 manure, and well soak the ground with water. The mulching will keep 

 the roots cool and moist in hot dry weather, and this is of the greatest 

 importance. When in active growth water them, say, once in ten days 

 with weak manure water, or sprinkle a little artificial manure on the 

 surface and water it in. For a late autumn flowering batch seed may be 

 sown in a warm frame in the middle of April. Sow the seed thinly, 

 thin out the young plants freely, and encourage a rapid and vigorous 

 growth by a liberal supply of moisture both at the roots and in the 

 atmosphere. There is now a new race of Stocks known as Intermediate, 

 being in habit and appearance midway between the Brompton and 

 Ten- Week Stocks. The treatment is as advised for Ten- Week varieties. 

 They branch freely and flower over a long period. 



East Lothian Stocks are very beautiful, and perhaps the most 

 fragrant of all. They require rich soil and good cultivation, but are 

 extremely hardy. Seed for the earliest batch of plants should be sown 

 in May under a hand-light or in a frame in a shaded portion. Sow 

 very thinly, and thin the young plants out to two inches apart when 

 large enough. Keep them well-watered and aired, and when the second 

 pair of rough leaves are formed pot them into small pots in good loamy 

 soil, a little well-rotted manure, and some coarse sand. Stand them on 

 ashes in a sunny, open position, removing them to a cold pit or frame 

 in November, and exposing them fully in fine weather. Protect from 

 severe frost with mats, and keep the soil in the pots on the dry side 

 during winter. Assist with weak liquid manure-water in spring and plant 

 them out in a bed or border in deeply-dug, well-enriched soil at the 

 beginning of April. Mulch and keep the roots moist and they will grow 

 into dense plants, and present a gorgeous appearance throughout June, 

 July, and August. A portion of the plants may be potted into 4^ or 6-inch 

 pots and allowed to bloom there. If kept in a quite cool temperature 

 they" will flower profusely and make a brave show in the greenhouse or 

 conservatory in May and June. Seed may also be sown in gentle heat 

 in March or April, and the plants treated as advised for the Ten- Week 



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