GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS 
for cutting, while the old-fashioned kind furnishes 
good feed for the chickens,—in which case your 
plants would be well worth growing for the seed. 
It will never do, however, for you simply to get 
your flower playhouse started, and then leave it to 
take care of itself! ‘You must watch the baby 
plants as soon as they peep out of the ground, help 
the vines to grow in the right direction and water 
thoroughly whenever there is a dry spell. Culti- 
vate around the roots every few days, as this break- 
ing up of the hard crust which forms on top will 
prevent the moisture from escaping through the air 
channels in the soil, and keep the roots moist. Sev- 
eral times during the season dig in a trowelful of 
bonemeal around each plant, and then give a good 
wetting. 
While the hardy vines, after once getting started, 
bloom every year without much more attention, the 
annuals have one advantage,—you can have a dif- 
ferent kind every time. In other words, you would 
then be able to give your house a fresh coat of 
paint,—I should say, flowers—every summer. 
106 
