166 GARDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD. 



GILIA TRICOLOR AND OTHERS. 



The children will all like the Gilias, if for no other 

 reason than because they come so soon into flower. The 

 seed may he sown in a box in the house, by the middle of 

 March, and the plants transplanted as soon as the weather 

 will permit; they do not bear transplanting readily, ex- 

 cept when young. Sometimes a few of the plants will 

 flower in the box before you are ready to set them out. 



Perhaps the better way is, to sow the seeds in rings 

 in the garden. If you take a common two-tined fork 

 you can make a circle, in the circumference of which sow 

 the Gilia seeds, dropping them from an inch and a half 

 to two inches apart, in the mark made by the fork. If 

 you use a three-tined fork you can make two rings. Sow 

 the seed in both rings, two or three inches apart. 



HELIANTHUS, OR SUNFLOWER. 



My young friends must not fail to sow a few Sunflower 

 seeds. They come up so soon, and grow so rapidly, that 

 the plants become objects of interest from the start. Sow 

 three or four seeds in a hill, as you would corn, say three 

 feet apart, and thin out to two plants in a hill. Or plant 

 a hill in any vacant spot or corner. You may plant a 

 row along the fence, being careful, however, to leave 

 space enough between the Sunflowers and the fence to 

 admit of the use of the cultivator, or the hoe; thin out 

 the plants to a foot apart. The Sunflower delights in a 

 rich soil and an abundance of sunshine. It is a coarse 

 plant, but is not without its attractions. The single 

 varieties are more vigorous and, of course, produce much 

 more seed than the double sorts. The seed is much rel- 

 ished by poultry. It is usually sown about the time we 

 plant corn, but it may be put in at any time in the spring, 

 as it is not injured by frost. See Sunflower, Double. 



