THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
203 
EAISTNG HAEDY PEEENNIAL PLANTS FEO^I SEED. 
BY THOMAS TliUSSLER, EHMOKTON. 
S tlie most attractive hardy herbaceous plants are once 
more enjoying that degree of popularity they so -well 
deserve, a fe\^ words of advice on raising a stock will, 
no doubt, prove useful to the amateur. Herbaceous 
plants, it may be stated, can be propagated in two 
ways, one by means of cuttings, and the other by means of seed. 
To propagate the majority by the first of the two ways with any 
degree of success requires a considerable amount of skill, and entails 
no little labour, and what is of equal importance, it is necessary to 
have the command of a stock of plants for furnishing the cuttings. 
Hence it will be seen that raising them Irom seed w'ill be the best 
way for the amateur, more especially as the seed can be procured at 
a cheap rate. In a catalogue of fiower-seeds before me, which is 
issued by Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, seeds of about two thousand 
plants are ofi'ered, and the majority of these are hardy perennials, 
and nearlj^ all the remainder are hardy annuals. Thus it will be 
seen that there is no difliculty whatever in obtaining the seed, and 
for the comfort of those whose desires exceed the length of their 
purses, it may be mentioned that the price of the packets of seed 
average threepence each. 
The month of March is usually considered the proper time for 
sowing flower-seeds of all kinds, and in consequence those who 
have not had the command of a hotbed, or some other source of 
artificial heat for starting the seeds, have considered it useless to 
sow them. Now, it cannot be too well known that hardy herbaceous 
plants can be raised most readily from seed during the summer 
season. Indeed, the summer is the proper time for the work, as the 
plants are then more robust, and altogether better than those raised 
in heat, and when they once become established, they make most 
rapid progress. In some few cases a stock of flowering-plants may 
be had in less time when the seed is sown in artificial heat, but 
unless under exceptional circumstances, the seed should he raised 
without its aid. 
In raising considerable quantities of plants of the class here 
alluded to, the majority may be sown in the open border, but it is 
advisable to sow very small seeds in pans or pots, and place them in 
a cold frame. In sowing the seeds out of doors, make the soil 
rather fine by well chopping the surface with the hoe, and then 
remove the rough pieces and the stones with the rake. Then draw 
the drills about an inch in depth, and about nine inches apart. 
They should be rather broad at the bottom, as it will give the young 
plants more room than they otherwise would have, and render it 
unnecessary to transplant them at so early a stage, to prevent over- 
crowding. Previous to sowdng the seeds in dry weather, it is a 
most excellent plan to fill the drills with water, and allow it to soak 
July. 
