FLOWER GARDEN. 
09 
quire, the same treatment when sown so early, 
or they will not germinate ; or if they germi- 
nate, will not live. Make the drills with the 
finger, and sow thinly, and place a label at the 
end of each row, and cover lightly. Sow also 
the so-called hardy annuals, that you wish to 
plant out early, for it will give you two sea- 
sons of blooming ; for instance, these may be 
planted out in May in a forward state, and 
they will bloom almost as soon as those sown 
in the open borders are up and well growing. 
These hardy annuals may nevertheless be 
sown in open borders, for if properly covered 
up, they will not germinate until they will 
stand the weather. 
Pansies will commence this month to bloom 
in the open air, and all of them begin to grow 
fast, unless there is frost to check them. It is 
well to cover them with any open litter, like 
peas haulm, which keeps off a good deal of 
frost, protects them from all the cold winds, 
and does not take away light. The beneficial 
tendency of this kind of litter to all dwarf 
plants through the winter, and early spring 
months, is either not half enough known, or 
being known, not sufficiently practised. Those 
in pots, under glass, should be shifted, if not 
done already ; or, if intended to be planted 
out in beds, the sooner it is done the better. 
If there be any shoots of choice sorts that you 
are desirous of propagating, and that can be 
spared without spoiling the appearance of the 
plant, they may be struck very easily under a 
bell glass, and in any of the slight hot beds 
that may be at work ; not that heat is neces- 
sary, but that it hastens the striking, and, 
therefore, for choice things is better than 
waiting for the ordinary method, otherwise 
they will strike in the cold frame. It must be 
recollected that, in all cases where bell glasses 
are used, the inside should be wiped dry every 
morning, and the compost kept moist, "but not 
wet. 
Ranunculuses, after planting, should be 
covered slightly with litter, to prevent the 
frost penetrating the ground to the tubers; 
and if any of them are not yet planted, they 
should be got in without a moment's delay, as 
directed last month. In very mild weather, 
they will frequently be above ground before 
the end of March, and there is additional 
reason then for covering; but, in all cases, the 
litter should be removed in warm genial 
weather, to let the beds have all the advantage 
of sunshine; it will be unsafe, however, to 
leave them uncovered of a night after they are 
once in the ground, until the middle of May. 
Anemones, and especially the double ones. 
which are tender compared with the single, 
should be treated in the same way as Ranun- 
culuses. 
Tulips. — These, on coming through the 
ground, generally crack the surface all over 
the bed, for the rains will have closed the 
compost at the top, until the spikes break it. 
The whole of the surface should be Stirred, 
and any lumps bruised, so that it may be laid 
pretty even: it is of the greatest benefit to the 
bulbs to give them air, and of infinite service 
to the stems to lay the soil pretty close to 
them. In some kinds of loam, from the swell- 
ing of the bulb, and the progress of the spike 
through the earth, it will be actually cracked, 
so as to almost show the bulb, which would 
thus be exposed to all the vicissitudes of tin; 
weather, and the attacks of insects, which 
could not find their way through crumbled 
earth, laying close, though lightly on the bulb 
and round the stem. If any vacancies occur 
where the plant has not come up while the 
main quantity has, it will be necessary to 
search carefully for the cause. Sometimes a 
stone, or a hard lump of dirt, will have turned 
the spike downwards or sideways for a con- 
siderable distance, and thus thrown it behind; 
besides which, it may so far impede its pro- 
gress, as to throw it a long way out of its 
place, before it can grow up at all. The 
removal, in time, will relieve it, so as to make 
the delay of small consequence. It may be, 
however, that the plant is affected; the outer 
leaf may have begun to rot, or, as is sometimes 
the case, may have so completely closed over 
the other, as to prevent its growth, and even 
cause it, if neglected, to decay, instead of grow. 
The decayed part must, in such cases, be 
entirely removed with a sharp knife, and the 
plant be laid bare down to the bulb. It should 
then be covered a few days with a bell glass, 
and as it progresses, the hole filled up with 
fresh loam, for by no means ought the same 
to be returned to the place, and all the portions 
of the rotted leaf or leaves should be thrown 
away from the bed. The covering of nights, 
and not uncovering even in the day if there 
be frost, must be always observed. Should* 
the weather be mild towards the end of the 
month, and there be refreshing warm rains, 
it will be of service to let the tulips have them; 
but be doubly careful that the frost does not 
reach them afterwards, or there will be mischief. 
It has been preached by the old florists, that 
tulips should not be watered; this is perfectly 
erroneous; it is true, they do not want much, 
but look at the strength the foliage acquires, 
by a warm shower, and then ask 3-ourself why. 
in the absence of rain for any continuance, 
water should not be beneficial. It is all a 
mistaken notion, and arises from this fact — the 
roots will go down after moisture, and the 
foliage will therefore never, op- at least rarely, 
flag, even in a long drought; but the foliage 
requires moisture as much as the .root, and 
though it would matter but little whether a 
l2 
