24 TITF. (AXADIAN HOKTlcrLTriimT, 



such a l<>ok of welcunie, and liold up their pretty faces to you with 

 such a wirini]3!T grace that you linger longer than yesterday. You can- 

 not tell whicli to admire the nfost, the modest Lashfulness of that 

 double white which pee])s out t^ you from under the leaves, or the 

 challenging boldness of that single pink, whose laughing eye meets 

 your gaze so roguishly. Double or single, w^hite, pink, magenta or car- 

 nation, they have each their beauty, both of flower and leaf. 



You can either purchase the plants at the florists, already in bloom ; 

 or, if you enjoy the pleasure of raising them yourself, you can procure 

 the seed from your seedsman. If you undertake to grow them from 

 seed, it will be necessary to provide some light fibrous loam, well mixed 

 with fine sand. Fill a small flower pot nearly half full of potsherds 

 broken quite small, place over these a thin layer of moss to keep the 

 soil from choking the drainage, and finish with your mixture of loam 

 and sand. Now immerse your pot to the rim in water, until the 

 moisture appears at the surface, then let the surplus water drain out, 

 and sow the seed thinly over the surface of the soil. Now sift a very 

 little of the very finest sand over the seeds, or what is better for the 

 beginner, gently press the seed into the soil with some very smooth 

 surface, such as a piece of glass, cover the pot with a light of glass, and 

 set it in the north window of a warm room. In a couple of weeks the 

 young plants will appear, and should be exposed to the light as much 

 as possible, but not to the direct rays of the sun. When they need 

 watering, it is safer to give it by immersing the pot in tepid water, 

 until the soil is sufficiently moistened, than to apply it with a watering 

 pot, unless you have one with a very fine rose. When the plants 

 have become large enough to handle, transplant them separately into 

 thumb-pots, well drained at the bottom, and filled with the same sort 

 of soil that you used Ijefore, place them in a window where the sun 

 will not strike them, give them plenty of air, and do not allow the 

 temperature of the room to rise above sixty-five degrees. As fast as 

 the roots fill the pots, shift into other pots a little larger in size, and 

 do not check their growth by neglect. During the summer plunge 

 them into a frame on the north side of some building, and when the 

 nights begin to get chilly in the early part of September, return them 

 to the window where you wish them to bloom. As soon as the flower 

 buds form, be careful not to wet them when watering, lest they should 

 rot. 



