A FEW BRIEF HINTS ON THE SOWING AND CULTIVATION 
OF 
Plants are generally 'known and described as Annuals 9 
Biennials and Perennials* 
HARDY ANNUALS.— The term annual is applied to those plants which flow- 
er and ripen their fruits the season they are sown, and then perish. This definition 
is in no way affected by the fact that many Annuals may be treated as Biennial, or 
in other words may be sown in Autumn for flowering early the following season. 
By hardy Annuals, is usually understood those which require no artificial heat at 
any period of their growth, every stage of their development, from germination to 
ripening of the seed, being passed in the open ground, whilst the term half-hardy 
is applied to these species which flower and often ripen their seeds in the open air, 
but need the assistance of artificial heat in the earlier stage of their growth. 
Soil. — Thebsst soil adapted to flowering plants, generally, is alight, friable loam, 
containing a moderate amount of vegetable matter, and sufficient sand to render it 
porous, bat as it rarely happens that the amateur has much choice of soil, it is for- 
tunate that most of them will succeed in any, but such as is of an extremely dry, 
sanely or calcareous nature, or of a stiff, heavy, retentive character. In the former, 
the plants are sure to be starved, and in the latter, if they ever fairly take root 
there is generally an undue development of the foliage at the expense of the flow- 
ers. In soils of this description much may be done by thoroughly breaking up 
the superficial crust, or as it is technically termed "trenching" it at least one spade 
deep, digging in sharp sands or road scrapings, and if the operation be performed 
in Autumn so that the loosened soil is thoroughly exposed during the winter to the 
disintegrated influence of frost and other atmospheric agencies the advantage will 
be greatly increased. In soil of an opposite character, i. e, sandy or calcareous, 
the remedy will obviously consist in the addition of loam, in conjunction with de- 
cayed leaves or old rotted manure, where expense is no object, the surface may be 
entirely removed to a depth of eight or ten inches, and its place supplied with the 
best loam compost at hand. The use of strong crude manure of an animal nature 
should be avoided. In ordinarily good soil an annual dressing of leaf mould, de- 
cayed turf or thoroughly rotten manure, in quantities proportioned to the require- 
ments of the soil, dug to the depth of a few inches, will be all that is requisite. 
These should be applied in spring, only just previous to sowing seeds, or much of 
the benefit resulting from their application will be lost, though a single digging 
may be advantageously given in Autumn. In preparing the beds, care must be 
taken that they are so arranged that they may be a little elevated in the middle that 
the water may run off, and the plants shown to a better advantage. 
Pijbiod of Sowing. — With regard to the proper season for sowing, much neces- 
sarily depends on the character of the season. As a general rule the first sowings 
of this class in the open ground may be made about the middle of April, and con- 
tinued until June. We doubt if any real advantage is gained by committing the 
seed to the ground at an earlier period, particularly in our Northern States, for 
