184 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD. 



of the soil. Set them a foot apart, hoe frequently, and 

 keep the bed entirely free from weeds. 



The Ten Weeks Stock delights in a moist soil and plenty 

 of rain. But as we can not always be sure of having 

 plenty of moisture, we should make the soil as rich a 

 possible. This is particularly important if we expect to 

 raise double flowers. I do not mean by this, that if we 

 expect to grow seed that will produce double flowers, we 

 should make the land rich. In point of fact, the seed 

 that will produce double flowers is from plants that have 

 been starved or dwarfed, the plants being grown with as 

 little food and water as possible, and the seed taken from 

 the lower half of the pod, the secondary branches of 

 the plant only being allowed to bear seed. What I 

 mean is, that when you have seeds grown for the special 

 purpose of producing plants that will bear double flowers, 

 you can not make the soil too rich for them. 



SUNFLOWER DOUBLE. 



Every one knows the tall-growing, large-flowered, 

 single Sunflower. (See page 166.) Its appearance is gen- 

 erally associated with unhinged gates, windows stuffed 

 with old hats, and other marks of poverty. Nevertheless, 

 even the common Sunflower may be so grouped as to 

 present a striking appearance, and there is a dwarf double 

 one that is not out of place in any garden. This has been 

 in cultivation for many years, but no one seems to know 

 how it originated. It has been called the " Many-flow- 

 ered," the "California Double," the "Hollow Globe," 

 and by other names. It produces small, nearly globular 

 flowers, of a regular shape, and of a bright golden yel- 

 low color; they are without the coarseness of the single 

 sunflower, and quite as handsome as a Dahlia. This 

 variety is an annual. 



