48 
OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 
rather shallow pans, putting only a few good seeds in each, and leaving the seedlings in them till 
they are fit to be planted out. We recommend this measure, because the majority of annuals are 
greatly retarded and injured by transplantation ; and if they could thus be turned out at once 
from a pot, they would be spared such a shift. The pots could either be plunged in a hotbed 
frame, or in some such a gentle hotbed as the seeds are usually sown upon. To guard against 
failure, the soundness of the seeds can be tested before they are sown, by putting them for some 
time in lukewarm water, when, if they are good, they will swell, and, when unfurnished with any 
appendage, ultimately sink. Indeed, it is advisable to defer the sowing of tender annuals a fort- 
night later than usual, and then immerse the seeds for a day or two in lukewarm water, which 
will develop them as certainly and as much as if they had been in the ground ; and room will thus 
be economized in the eai'ly part of the season. 
For sowing annuals in the open borders, we would suggest that the same means of testing the 
seed be adopted, and then that it be used far more sparingly than is commonly the case. It is 
customary to scatter the seed very thickly ; and, independently of its wastefulness, such a practice 
is most injudicious ; for, when springing up in such clusters, the plants can never be thinned 
properly, and those which are left are invariably enfeebled or damaged. About three times the 
quantity of seed (never more) than there are plants required^should be used ; and if it is put in 
regularly, the young plants that have to be removed will be fit for transplanting when the thinning 
takes place. 
Another evil in sowing hardy annuals is to insert them in the ground Avithout stirring it 
afresh, or seeing that it is properly lightened. We have often observed people putting in seeds 
when they have had great difficulty in making the drill for them, so firm has the earth been. 
Now, wherever a patch of seeds is to be sown, the earth should be loosened with a fork before the 
seeds are inserted, unless it be already sufficiently light. No annuals can be expected to flourish 
in a close hard soil. 
A general potting will now be requisite among plants in houses. But, as we have often before 
remarked, no specimen should be repotted till it begins, or is about to begin, growing. There 
ought to be no such thing as a fixed period for universal potting in well-managed collections. Each 
specimen ought to be treated according to its individual wants. Yet, where plants of common habits 
are not now commencing to grow, they may be examined, to see that they are not suffering from 
disease or improper management. In potting, particular care should be used to distribute the new 
earth equally throughout the pots, and not leave unoccupied spaces, nor parts in which the earth 
is pressed too tightly. For this purpose a flat stick should be employed to push down the soil ; 
and it should be well shaken by striking the pot several times flatly on the potting-bench, before it 
is rendered firm at the top by the hand. 
As the month opens, and exotics make a decided start in their developments, plant-houses may 
be kept a little warmer and closer, since it is the province of the culturist to assist Nature in her 
great processes, or to supply the agents which she would have given to the plants in their original 
state. Warmth and a somewhat close atmosphere are the most congenial to growing plants ; but 
it is not necessary that such warmth be continued through the night, any further than to exclude 
frost, for a high night temperature is prejudicial rather than otherwise. 
The coverings which are used to shelter exotic shrubs in the open air should not be removed 
altogether as soon as genial weather appears to set in. Sometimes, during the present and the 
ensuing month, excessively cold north-east winds occur, which are more hurtful than frost ; and it 
is therefore well to have the protection still at hand, that it may be employed at such periods. Still, 
when the days are at all mild, everything of the kind should be uncovered as far as practicable. 
Where stock for filling the flower-garden, too, exists in frames, it should be exposed to air and 
light whenever the air is warm enough to warrant such a step. 
Propagation, both of tender plants for the borders, and of all sorts of exotics, should now be 
begun. It may be carried on in a frame, to which a little bottom heat is supplied ; and the 
cuttings should be immediately potted when they have formed roots, and shifted, as soon as they 
are established, into a colder place, or to their final destination. 
