STOCKS TEK WEEKS. 183 



carefully, and thin out the plants to three or four inches 

 apart. The dwarf variety is best for this purpose. It 

 grows about a foot high, while the ordinary varieties are 

 about two feet high. The flowers of both are large and 

 showy, and are well worthy a place in every garden. 



STOCKS TEN WEEKS. 



Those who have had no experience in starting flower 

 seeds in a box in the house, would find Ten Weeks Stock 

 a good plant to experiment with. Sow the seeds in 

 rows an inch apart, and two or three seeds to an inch of 

 row. Cover with a little pulverized moss, a quarter of 

 an inch deep, or with one-eighth of an inch of sand, or 

 mould. Give the soil in the box a thorough watering 

 with warm water before sowing the seed; until the plants 

 appear nothing more is required, except to sprinkle on 

 enough water every day to keep the surface moist. 



The plants of Stock can be transplanted as easily as 

 cabbage plants, and as it is always very important to get 

 strong, compact plants, you can not transplant them too 

 often. As soon as the plants are an inch high, take out 

 every other row, and prick them out into another box, 

 and as soon as those that are left in the first box begin to 

 crowd, if the weather is not warm enough to set them 

 out of doors, transplant into another box in the house. 

 If the seed is sown the middle 'of March, you will have 

 strong, stocky plants, three inches high, by the middle 

 of May. The boxes should then be placed out of doors 

 in the sun for a few hours every day, to harden the 

 plants. 



Ten Weeks stocks are so hardy and vigorous that they 

 will do well on any good garden soil. Set them out just 

 as you would a cabbage plant. Put them in the ground 

 just deep enough for the lower leaves to reach the surface 



