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in the land to be sold on commission ; this rate of commission 

 ranges from forty to seventy per cent, on all sales, the unsold 

 seeds to be returned at the close of the season, to be sent out 

 the next season in the same manner. This mode is a fraud on 

 the American people, and it should be abolished. To every 

 reader of this we desire to say emphatically : Don't buy seeds 

 from any firm who send seeds out to be sold on commission ; 

 if you do you will regret it. The catalogues usually divide 

 flower seeds into four principal classes: Annuals, Biennials? 

 i'erennials and Greenhouse. 



Sowing the Seeds. When it is desired to have the plants 

 in bloom real early in the season, the seeds should be sown in 

 pots or shallow boxes in March or April ; till the pot or box 

 two-thirds full of broken pots, moss, charcoal or any other 

 substance that water will readily drain through; cover this 

 with one or two inches of soil composed of one part loam, two 

 pares leaf soil and one part sand thoroughly mixed and pulver- 

 ized ; on this bow the seeds and cover them with the same 

 compost to the depth of about twice the diameter of the seed, 

 not more. They should now be watered with a fine sprinkler, 

 and from this time the soil should never be allowed to become 

 dry; the surface may be lightly covered with fragments of 

 Sphagnum or moss ; this will prevent the rays of the sun from, 

 drying and baking the soil : this must be removed as soon as 

 the seedlings appear. The box may be covered with glass ; 

 this will keep off the cold air, and greatly assist vegetation ; 

 however, as soon as the seedlings appear, air should be ad- 

 mitted freely. The box, as soon as the seed is sown, should be 

 kept as nearly as possible in a temperature of from sixty to 

 seventy degrees. As soon as the seedlings have developed the 

 second pair of leaves, they should be pricked out either into 

 boxes or small pots ; if put in boxes they should be planted 

 from two to four inches apart or planted singly in pots; shade 

 from the sunlight until the3" have fully recovered, then place 

 them close to the glass to incite a strong, sturdy growth. As 

 soon as all danger from frost is passed, plant them out in the 

 prepared border, where they are to bloom. In sowing, re- 

 member that soaking for several hours in warm water will 

 greatly hasten the germination of all hard shelled seed!=, such 

 as Cypress "Vine. Cannas, etc. By removing the cottony husk 

 from Abronia, Globe Amaranth and other like seeds, the ger- 

 mination will be greatly facilitated. When we do not desire 

 to have the plants in bloom early, we may defer sowing the 



