PLANTS SUITED FOR SUMMER DECORATION. Ill 



corn, melons, or cucumbers. This rule, if kept in view, will 

 apply to all sections of the country, from Maine to Florida. 

 Many seeds of annuals may be sown thickly and trans- 

 planted so as to make the most of them ; but, as a gen- 

 eral thing, this is not done. They are usually sown in 

 rows from six to twenty-four inches apart, according to 

 their kind, or in circular patches of from one to two 

 feet in diameter, each circle being from one to two feet 

 apart from the other, according to the growth of the 

 variety. But whether sown in rows or in circular patches, 

 first stir up the soil so that the seed can be readily cov- 

 ered from a quarter of an inch to one inch in depth. 

 After the seed is sown, shake over it fine soil sufficient 

 to cover the seeds, lighter or heavier, according to 

 the size of the seeds. The covering is best done by 

 sifting the soil over the seed, using a sieve made of 

 mosquito wire netting, which covers the seed more regu- 

 larly than can be done by the hand, and, besides, it brings 

 the soil to the proper condition of fineness, so important 

 in the covering of small seeds. After the soil has been 

 sifted over the seeds to the proper depth, take a smooth 

 board or the back of a smooth spade, and gently pat down 

 the covering over the seeds. It is a good plan to place a 

 label or piece of stick in the center of each circular 

 patch, or, if in rows, at each end of the row, so as to 

 mark where the seed has been sown ; for it must not be 

 forgotten that in nearly all soils there are the seeds of 

 weeds, which spring up often quicker than the flower 

 seeds do ; therefore it becomes necessary to know exactly 

 the spot where the seeds have been sown, so that the 

 weeds can be pulled out or hoed up, and not crowd 

 and smother the flowers. Seedsmen have hundreds of 

 complaints every season from their customers that only 

 weeds come up from flower seeds sown, while the facts 

 are, that the weeds came up around the flower seed- 

 lings, and, not being pulled out, enveloped and smoth- 



