SOSr fLAKKTA. Ill 



tliat a linrvied, crowded, weakened plant falls far short of 

 what, under happier conditions, it mi<^-lit and would be. 



Spriui;- sowing will do very well, but February and 

 JMarch are the pnijier mouths tor the opfratiou. If the 

 seed does not conie up (.phckly, it is no matter. It will not 

 perish ; it will move in its own tinn^, and the time depends 

 on the temperature of the ground. W hen the temperature 

 rises to the proper tig-ure, the seed will sprout and wdl have 

 the longest season possible for spring-sown seed to make a 

 sti-ong plant and do its duty. But the life of the business 

 consists in severe thinning. In this operation the amateur 

 is often timid, and will leave on the ground a, la-owd of 

 plants that will simph' starve one another, and make in the 

 end Ijnt a ])Oor show. For every particular annual A\'e will 

 sa\' there is a pai'ticular distance, say fnur, six, eight, (H- 

 even twelve iuelies. But the plant itself will tell }'ou all 

 about it. Thin the seedlings, put them in the tirst instance 

 three or four inches apart. The result will be a more 

 vigorous growth and a tendency to spread. Now pull out 

 a plant here and a pdant there where there happens to be a 

 little crowding, (ibserving as a rule that no two plants 

 should overlap one another. By persevering in this way 

 you reach the true hgure. j\Iere thinning in a destmctive 

 sjiirit will, of course, not make a gay garden. You want 

 rich clumps, and yow must hit the nice ])oint where eai'h 

 jdant has light and air and there are no great gaps Ijetweeu 

 them. The Clarkias on good soil will do well at six 

 inches apart. 



But spring sowing is not the l)est way (o secure a bloom 

 of these hardy annuals. The proper time to sow is autumn, 

 not earlier than August and not later than Septcmljer. In 

 late cold districts the first week m August wdl be none too 



