fast as open. This with its varied 
colors and delightful fragrance make 
it one of the most valuable and popu- 
lar of all flowers. 
The new "Rainbow Corn" should 
not be planted until the weather be- 
comes somewhat settled and warm. 
Flowers for Cutting 
If flowers are desired for cutting 
or picking for house decoration, it 
is well to have an extra lot of plants 
for this purpose, and most of the 
flowers are improved by removing 
part of the blossoms, for by thus re- 
moving them instead of allowing 
them to go to seed they continue to 
bloom much longer than they would 
otherwise. 
Starting the Seed 
In starting any plants from any 
kind of seeds, whether vegetables or 
flowers, two or three things are 
necessary for success. The seeds 
are really little eggs, and like other 
eggs must have a certain amount of 
moisture, heat and warmth. If the 
ground becomes packed and soaked 
with water, they cannot get air, 
which is necessary for their germina- 
tion; and if the soil is allowed to get 
too dry, even for a few hours, just 
as they are starting, it will kill the 
little plantlets before they appear 
upon the surface. So there are three 
things to be remembered: 
Do not plant the seeds too deep 
so as to smother them before they 
can reach the surface. 
Do not allow them to dry out, so as 
to kill them just before or just after 
they come up, and 
Plant them at the proper season, 
not too early, not too late. This re- 
quires a slight knowledge, which can 
not be conveyed in a few words. 
For the most part it must be learned 
by study and practice, and as the 
watching of growing things is among 
the most delightful of all occupa- 
tions, it is a pleasure thus to learn 
these things, and the little plants 
will teach you, if you do not have 
printed directions at hand. Eeally, 
the plants will tell you many things, 
which it is impossible to convey to 
you by printed words. 
Germination 
Seeds vary greatly in their re- 
quirements of heat and moisture, 
also length of time for germination. 
Pansy and many other seeds if sown 
in hot weather refuse to come up 
under any kind of treatment, re- 
maining dormant until the weather 
becomes cool and moist. Others re- 
quire a great amount of heat and 
moisture, especially seeds which 
naturally grow in the tropics, like 
Canna and numerous other varieties 
of seed. Some require rather dry, 
loose, warm soil like corn and morn- 
ing glory. Still some others require 
to be sown lightly on the surface with- 
out any covering. These are small 
seeds like fern and begonia which re- 
quire much moisture. 
The habits of the various seeds 
can only be known by some study 
and experience, and these general 
notes are given to aid those who 
have not had experience in growing 
flower seeds. More definite instruc- 
tions would gladly be given if possi- 
ble, but losses must occur with be- 
ginners under any circumstances as 
with any other undertaking. Most 
