'I HI: norni.E stock. i,i,5 



weather they should have ahiiiiilanee (if water. The routine 

 of treatment varies with the kinds and the seasons in which 

 they are required to Hower, and to succeed thoroughly with 

 any cue chiss demands a considerable degree of patience 

 and skill. Not a few of the I'^nglish visitors to the Paris 

 Exhibition in 1S7S were astonished at the dis|.la\ of double 

 stocks in the gardens on the 1st of May, when the stocks 

 A\-ere as gay as we are accustomed to see them in July, and 

 a cruel deluge of rain threatened to wash them out of exist- 

 ence. It did not succeed, however, and the immense masses 

 of white, bluish, and crunsoii stocks imjiroved as tiuic wore 

 on, and throughout the whole of the uionth of .luuc were 

 as fresh and beautiful and meritorious as any (.f the (lowers, 

 of those great and ga\' g'ardens. 



The easiest way to obtain a hue display ol' doulilc st(.)cks 

 is to sow the seed early in the month of .Alareh, in pans or 

 boxes filled with light rich soil, and assist germination by 

 putting the seed-jJaus ou a gentle hot-bed. As soon as the 

 plants are large enough to handle they should be pricked out 

 into boxes similarl}' tilled with light rich s(jil, fieing put 

 two or three inches apart. This pr(.iceediniJ' will [irnmote 

 a dwarf, stout growth, so that liy the middle of Alay the 

 plants will be strong enough to be planted out. The bed 

 should be in a suniry situation, well prepared by deep 

 digging and liberal manuring, and when the planting is 

 finished a coatina- of half-rotten stable manure should be 

 .spread over. The unsightliness of this will quickly be 

 hidden liy the spread of the plants, if they are well taken 

 care of. In the event of a sharp frost occurring after they 

 are planted some kind of protection must lie afforded 

 Empty dower-pots turned over the plants may serve the 

 purpose ; or boughs of laurel and other evergreen trees 



