108 YARD AND GAEDEN 



seedlings do not become spindly. To prevent 

 this, increase the light and turn the boxes oc- 

 casionally, so that one side is not always next 

 to the window. 



Select seeds for planting indoors with some 

 care. Earliness alone is hardly worth striving 

 for. The plant so treated blooms for only a 

 definite period, say four weeks. In such a case, 

 of course, what you would gain at one end you 

 would lose at the other. But in many instances, 

 especially in the case of verbenas and petunias, 

 a month's start means a clear gain, for the 

 plants, once they begin to bloom, will continue 

 to bloom until frost. 



IMPORTANCE OF GOOD BEDS 



It is strange, to say the least, that many 

 persons observe carefully all the little points 

 necessary to insure success with seeds planted 

 indoors, but prepare the outdoor beds in a man- 

 ner at once indifferent and careless. Three- 

 fourths of the failures are due to this lack of 

 thoroughness. In spring, the most of us, 

 whether flower-raising is our hobby or not, 

 want to plant. We rush into it, hastily and in- 

 completely preparing the beds, sow the seeds, 

 watch with increasing interest the germination, 



