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ladies' flower gardener. 



Be particular in gathering your seeds on a fine, dry day, and 

 put each sort in a separate brown paper bag till you require 

 them. The very finest seedlings are, after all, those which spring 

 near the mother plant from self-sown seed, therefore, when you 

 weed or dig your flower borders, be careful not to disturb any 

 seedlings which may have sprung up. They always make strong, 

 fine blooming plants. 



Take care of your double-flowering plants in winter. The 

 double wall-flower is hardy enough to exist in the borders, but 

 the other double biennials deserve to be sheltered, for double 

 flowers are very handsome, and heavy rains, snow, or severe frost, 

 injures them. Take cuttings every year from them. 



The Night Stock is tolerably hardy if sheltered during the 

 frost by ashes or litter. The sweetness after night-fall must 

 recommend it to all the lovers of fragrant flowers. 



PROPAGATING BIENNIALS. 



Every young lady must become acquainted with the manner 

 of operating upon plants, to preserve the finer sorts, which they 

 may wish to perpetuate. Raising from seed is slow, but it pro- 

 duces infinite variety. You, however, rarely see the same flower 

 produced twice from seed ; therefore you must propagate the 

 biennial and perennial flowers by layers, slips, pipings, and cut- 

 tings, if you wish to preserve any particular sorts. 



To effect layers, prepare some rich, light earth, a parcel of 

 small hooked sticks, or little pegs, and a sharp penknife. 



Now clear the ground about the plant you are going to layer ; 

 stir the surface well with your trowel, and put a sufficient quan- 

 tity of the prepared mould round the plant as will raise the sur- 

 face to a convenient height for receiving the layer. 



Cut off the top of each shoot with your knife, about two inches, 



