THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



877 



the month will be a good time : however, if this were neg- 

 lected to be done last month, let it now be done without delay. 

 Those which were sown last month, or earlier in the season, 

 will require to be forwarded by being pricked out, and after- 

 wards shifted into larger pots as they advance, and a regular 

 brisk heat kept up, either by renewing the linings or making 

 up fresh hot-beds for them, so that they may sustain no check 

 in their growth. It is a rule, which should never be lost sight 

 of, that, in the growing of tender annuals, particularly such 

 as balsams, cockscombs, and globe amaranthus, the nearer 

 the plants are kept to the glass the better ; by which means 

 they will not become drawn up weak and flower in a pre- 

 mature state. While the plants are in this state, let them 

 have moderate supplies of water, with the chill taken off, as 

 often as they may require it, all over-head, and let air be ad- 

 mitted daily, in such quantities as the state of the weather 

 will permit. As the plants advance in height, so as to touch 

 the glass, let the frames be lifted up a few jnches at a time ; 

 and this practice should be followed as often as they may re- 

 quire it. The soil in which tender annuals should be grown, 

 should be as rich and light as possible ; indeed, balsams and 

 some others are brought to their greatest perfection in entirely 

 rotten dung; good light mould, enriched with rotten dung, 

 and frequently watered with liquid manure, will bring these 

 plants to great perfection, if they be allowed sufficient pot- 

 room, and regularly shifted. 



SOWING AND PRICKING OUT HALF-HARDY ANNUALS. 



Many half-hardy annuals may still be sown upon a slight 

 hot-bed, and many of such as were sown last month may now, 

 if the weather be mild, be planted out in the borders of the 

 flower garden ; the more tender sorts may be pricked out in a 

 nursing-bed, covered with a frame and glasses. They will 

 attain a good size, and be fit for final planting out by the end 

 of the month or the beginning of May. The more tender 

 kinds of these plants should be, when fit, pricked out singly 

 into small pots, and kept in a little bottom-heat till the end 

 of the month, when they may be planted out with safety : of 



