CATALOGUE OF FLOWER SEEDS. 
'7 
bed of stable manure offers the simplest means of obtaining a gentle bottom heat 
sufficient for most seeds, when other more perfect sources are available, they will 
of course be employed. In many cases the seeds are sown on the layer of soil 
which covers the hotbed, but the"most usual and by far the best plan is to sow 
them in pots and seed pans — the latter being preferable, as they are more shallow 
than pots, and afford a large surface in proportion to their breadth. If these can- 
not be procured, shallow boxes will answer. The pots should be quite dry and 
clean when used, and to ensure thorough drainage which, essential for all plants, 
is doubly so for seedlings, must be filled at the bottom and the smallest at the top. 
A uniform compost of light sandy loam, enriched by a considerable mixture of 
fine leaf mould, or very old hotbed manure, kept till it can easily be rubbed to pow- 
der, may be used. Fill the pots lightly with the soil to the brim, when the pot 
should gently be struck to settle the mass about half an inch from the brim. If 
it should settle below that point a little more may be added. When a sufficient 
number of pots are filled, the surface of each should be gently leveled by pressure 
with a circular piece of wood having a clean, smooth surface, which, from ren- 
dering the smaller seeds more evident to the eye, will facilitate their equal distri- 
bution. The rules observable in sowing in the open ground, apply equally in 
pots. The seeds should be uniformly and thinly scattered over the flattened sur- 
face, and be then covered by a slight layer of pulverised soil, which for most seeds 
need not be thicker than a twenty-five cent piece, after which the surface must 
again be slightly pressed, then gently watered with a very fine watering-pot, and 
it is ready to be placed in a frame. In the case of very small seeds, such as those 
of Calceolaria, Lobelio, Campanlua, &c, the covering of the soil should be very 
thin, barely covering the seeds, and as seeds so minute are iable to be carried 
down into the soil, unless carefully watered, it is even advisable to moisten the 
flattened surface of soil in the pot before sowing the seeds instead of afterwards. 
Place the pots containing the seeds on the hotbed or in the greenhouse near the 
glass. Keep them shaded, which will prevent absorption by the rays of the sun 
and the consequent necessity of frequent watering, which cakes the soil, and does 
much mischief to seeds of slow growth. Flat seeds such as Zinnia, Stocks, also 
Melons and Cucumbers are best put in edgeways, or rubbed into the soil, being 
sometimes liable to rot when sown flat. As the seedlings of slender growing kinds 
appear above ground, care must be taken that they are not washed down and lost 
when water is applied. Towards the middle or end of May, many of the seedlings 
will be ready for transferring to the borders or beds they are intended to decorate 
but previous to this exposure it will be necessary to prepare them for the removal', 
by admitting air to the frame both clay and night, or what is better, by placing 
them in a separate frame, in which they may be gradually hardened off — at first 
by keeping the light down during the day only unfavorable weather for five or six 
days after that at night also, proceeding carefully while the nights are cold. Many 
of the half-hardy and tender Annuals will succeed well if planted in the open 
ground the last of May, and treated the same as recommended for hardy Annuals. 
BIENNIALS AND PERENNIALS. — Biennials are those plants that do not 
generally flower the first year, are only in perfection one season. Perennials con- 
tinue to flower several years in succession. The seed may be sown at any time from 
May to August, Some varieties may be sown in September, or as soon aa ripe, and 
if the plants get strong before the setting in of Winter, will flower the next Sum- 
mer. Many of them may be raised in the open ground like Hardy Annuals and 
transplanted, but choice kinds should be sown as directed for half-hardy and ten- 
der annuals in pots or seed pans. Several of them on account of their slow ten- 
dency to vegetate, are more difficult to raise than Annuals, and the remarks re- 
specting watering and shading will apply particularly to them. As they do not 
blossom the first year, they may be thinned out or removed from the seed beds, as 
soon as they are well rooted, and planted either into different parts of the garden 
or into a nursery bed, in rows, a foot or more apart ; keep them clear of weeds by 
hoeing and stirring the earth occasionally, which will greatly promote their growth 
and prepare them for transplanting into permanent blossom beds, either in the 
autumn or the following spring. Biennials are raised principally from seed sown 
every year. In transplanting take care to preserve some earth to their roots and 
tie the tall growing kinds to neat poles or rods. Remove decayed plants, and re- 
place them with vigorous ones from the nusery bed. Keep all the beds free from 
weeds, and the walks clean and neat. 
