DBUMMOI^D'S PHLOX. 179 



watered with, warm water before setting out the plants. 

 The box from which the plants are removed should also 

 be saturated with warm water. Do not try to thin out 

 the plants, but take them all up out of the box, as in 

 this way comparatively few roots will be broken off. Of 

 course the box from which the plants are taken can also 

 be filled with transplanted Phlox plants. 



After the plants are pricked out sift a little pulverized 

 moss on the soil, say an eighth of an inch deep; this will 

 check evaporation, and in a day or two the plants will be 

 growing as vigorously as ever. 



The great point after this is, to give the plants as 

 much sunshine as possible. If kept in the shade they 

 will be apt to grow up tall and spindling; what we 

 want is large, stocky plants, hence they must have 

 plenty of room. It may be necessary to transplant 

 them once more into larger boxes, or you may remove 

 every other row of plants, and set them out into a warm 

 border, leaving the others to grow a little larger in the 

 box in the house. It is necessary, in any case, to harden 

 the plants before setting them out in the garden; this 

 can be done by putting the boxes out of doors on a bench, 

 on the south side of the house. At first, they should 

 not be allowed to remain outside for more than an hour or 

 so, during the heat of the day, gradually extending the 

 time as the plants become stronger and more stocky. 



These plants can be set out either in a large bed, in 

 rows twelve to fifteen inches apart each way, or they may 

 be set out singly amongst other flowers, wherever there 

 is room for them. 



The handsomest bed of Drummond's Phlox I ever 

 saw, was on a wide outside border of a large cold 

 grapery, sloping towards the south-west; the border had 

 been prepared with the greatest care, and enriched for 

 three or four feet deep with horn-piths and rich manure. 

 From this it is evident that the Phlox, and more especi- 



