FLOWERS. Ill 



aslies, and mould from any place, where it can be had, is 

 proper for a garden. A garden should be well defended, 

 by a high and tight fence, especially on the north and west. 



Sowing and planting. — In the first place, the ground must 

 be made tine, as well as rich. It should be moderately 

 moist, not too wet, nor too dry. The beds should be raised 

 three or four inches above the level of the walks ; and the 

 seeds ought, by all means, to be sown in rows, ten or 

 twelve inches apart ; and the earth should be moderately 

 pressed upon them. The time for sowing either annual, 

 biennial, or perennial flower-seeds, is in the months of 

 April and May, according to the state of the season. Very 

 small seeds may be covered with fine earth nearly half an 

 inch ; larger ones in proportion to their size ; and those as 

 large as a pea, to the depth of an inch, or a little more. 

 Seeds of delicate plants should be planted in fiower-pots, 

 and the earth kept moderately moist, by watering with a 

 watering-pot, that is finely pierced, and does not pour 

 heavily; or the pot may be placed in the pan, and water 

 supplied at the bottom. The pots should be exposed to the 

 sun, except from eleven, A. M., to two, P. M., when a pow- 

 erful sun might scorch the vegetating seed. The mould 

 for pots should be rich, and sifted through a coarse sieve, 

 made for that purpose. 



Transplanting. — The best tim.e, perhaps, for transplant- 

 ing annual plants is in June, and for biennial and perennial 

 plants in September or the beginning of October, remem- 

 bering, in all cases, to take a sufficient quantity of earth, 

 with the roots, where it can be done with propriety. Scoop 

 trov/els will be found useful instruments in this operation, 

 which ought not to be done when the ground is very wet, 

 but when it is only moderately moist, and in a cloudy day, 

 or a little before the evening, or previous to a shower. If 

 the ground be dry, shading the plants, and a little water, 

 m.ay be necessary, for a short time. In case the roots 

 should be small, or injured, or destitute of earth, when ta- 

 ken up, they must be shaded during the day, until they 

 have gained strength. In placing a plant where it is to 

 stand, great care is necessary to place the roots in their 

 natural position, to bring the earth in contact with them, 

 and to press the earth moderately about them. 



If the plant is to be planted in a pot, place a piece of 

 earthen ware over the aperture in the bottom, that the su 

 perabundant water may drain olF, which would otherwise 

 saturate and rot the roots. The pots should be nearly filled 



