THE SWEET WILLIAM. 83 



seed on a bed of fine soil in a frame in a sunny position in 

 the month of April or May. As soon as the young plants 

 begin to crowd one another transplant them to a sunny 

 border four inches apart, and in September remove them to 

 the places they are to occupy for flowering the next season. 

 It is a good plan in decorating a mixed border to put them 

 in clumps, but single plants make fine heads of flowers, 

 and should need no support whatever and' no special care 

 in the management. Sweet williams certainly like a rich 

 soil, and in hot, dry weather water is good for them, as 

 for many other beauties; but we have here no delicate 

 subject that needs much nursing, and the principal point 

 is to give every plant a good place, with food below and 

 light above, for in shady and sour places they are of no 

 use whatever. 



To raise a stock from cuttings is an easy matter, but 

 requires care, because the cuttings must be taken in the 

 height of summer, when any neglect may prove fatal to 

 them. Any plant it is intended to propagate in this way 

 will supply a number of slender shoots at the base, those 

 that rise in a robust manner for flowering being quite un- 

 suitable. The best cuttings are about two inches in length, 

 or three at the utmost, and it is well to plant them in a 

 frame or under hand-glasses. However, a shady spot near 

 a hedge will answer very well with the help of a sprinkling 

 of water twice a day. It was part of our business when 

 forming a fine strain of sweet williams some years ago to 

 raise a very considerable number from cuttings to insure 

 the finest possible quality of plants for seeding. And it 

 proved an exceedingly easy task to root the cuttings in the 

 border of a cucumber house amongst the cucumbei-s, the 

 cuttings having the advantage of the warmth and moisture 



