Cannell & Sons’ Complete Seed Guide. 
GARDEN ANNUALS 
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BE O W * T O * H ^ "V E * T 1E3I E * E I IsT E . 
These are a beautiful, and some lovely. Many who buy and sow them never see their tuii beauty. Why ? Simply because they have never had the 
following secrets of sowing and growing put plainly before them for their guidance. 
First -The situation must be open, free from shade, roots of trees and shrubs, &c., &c. It is astonishing how thick and far their roots extend, taking 
every bit of moisture and goodness out of the ground ; the soil should be dug deeply, and if very poor, moderately manured ; this done, it is no matter 
whether the seed is sown by making an indentation in the soil half-an-inch deep with the edge of a bit of wood, or rim of a pot, or any other contrivance 
The seed must be covered with fine soil-the smalle’r the seed the finer and thinner the soil. Usually they come up like mustard and cress if kept damp, and 
the thick green growth looks nice and cheerful. Now, the most remarkable part of the business for amateurs to understand-and undemtand they must-is 
to have nerve enough to pull nearly all of them up, almost in the mme way as picking the feathers off fowls. The stumps, as it were, are almost enough to 
produce a crop, but more would be got out of the quarter left than if they were originally untouched. Such is a fact ! We have only to look at the seed bed 
of Wallflowers, Sweet Williams, Cabbage, and Brussels Sprouts, and ask ourselves the question, and the secret presents itself plainly. i ear y a t e annua s 
are better for being thinned or transplanted, if done at the proper time and in favourable weather ; but to get at the exact distances, you really want to 
know to what size the plant attains when flowering. For instance. Virginia Stock, Nemophila, and such like varieties, 1 to 2 inches apart; Mignonette, 
Dianthus, Candytuft, 6 inches; Canterbury Bells and Marigolds, 1 foot; and so ascertain the size generally attained of any plants, and leave room 
accordingly; and it will be surprising how well you will succeed by letting them have sufficient room to develop their proper individual proportions, if not 
they are poor and puny, and in and out of bloom in short time. Thus ill is spoken of the plants, and the seedsman who supplied them. 
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