TUBEROUS AND RHIZOMATOUS PLOTTERS. 53 



point of saving only from flowers of the richest blue and 

 red tints. The precaution can do no harm ; but it is 

 questionable whether it has any effect if the seed be 

 gathered from off a large bed ; for the produce therefrom 

 is completely hybridized by the agency of the wind and 

 of bees. Over-year's seed will succeed very well ; still it 

 is better to take that of the current season, sowing as 

 soon as it is ripe, in May or J une. 



Mark out your bed on a spot of good friable hazel 

 loam, which is in good heart or has been well manured 

 the previous year. Bank fresh manure must be avoided. 

 Break it up well to the depth of two feet at least; 

 thoroughly pulverize the top spit ; remove all pebbles and 

 roots of weeds ; rake the surface perfectly level. The 

 breadth of the bed should not exceed what is convenient 

 for reaching to the middle for weeding and gathering. 



Anemone seed is light and woolly, hanging together in 

 knots like carrot seed. To avoid this inconvenience, mix 

 it up with a considerable proportion of moist sand, rub- 

 bing it well between the hands. Sow broadcast as evenly 

 as possible, and not too thick if the seed be new. Cover 

 with a thin stratum of lighter loam and leaf-mould dusted 

 over the bed with a sieve. The seed is somewhat slow to 

 germinate, and weeds will make their appearance first. 

 These must be drawn out, as soon as they are big enough 

 to be laid hold of by the finger and thumb. Very gentle 

 waterings must be given, if the drought is severe and the 

 sun scorching. As the little green twin-cotyledons of the 

 anemones show themselves, the same attention to weed- 

 ing and watering must be repeated, to be continued 

 during the summer. In October, a few flowers will 

 appear ; next spring, there will be a respectable show ; 

 and the following season, the bed will be bright with 

 divers colours. The best flowers are not the first to 

 come into bloom. From every fresh-sown bed, one or 

 more double roots may be expected ; but these will often 

 not manifest their presence till the second or the third 

 year after sowing. Fresh seed is more likely to produce 

 double and richly-tinted flowers than old seed; because 



