FLOWER GARDEN. 
391 
in them with a moderate degree of care. Even 
Geraniums have been wintered with merely 
the precaution of turfing round the wood-work 
to keep out the weather, as the wood is gene- 
rally soon penetrated by frost. In a preserve 
for tender plants, the efficacy of waterproof 
transparent material, which keeps in the natural 
warmth of the earth much more than thicker 
material that is not waterproof, is manifest. 
Polyanthuses may be still taken from the 
seed-bed or the seed-pots, and planted out in 
a sheltered border, where there are no slugs ; 
for if there be any, immediate steps must be 
taken to get i*id of them. A strong border of 
lime will keep them off altogether, if they are 
not in the bed itself; but if they are, the 
remedy must be prompt. The border of lime 
must be placed to keep off all comers; and 
cabbage or lettuce leaves must be laid over 
the bed, to attract those already there. In 
twenty-four hours pretty nearly all that are 
in the soil will be attached to the under part 
of the leaves ; and this repeated two or three 
days, will clear it altogether; but the lime 
must be fresh down now and then, as constant 
rains take away the efficacy or pungency of 
the lime, and the creatures can then crawl 
over it with impunity. This well looked to, 
the seedlings may be planted out six inches 
apart all over the border, and watered in to 
establish the mould about their roots. If the 
soil is naturally poor, water occasionally with 
water in which decayed cowdung has been 
mixed, to the amount of a good spadeful to 
six gallons, and well stirred up, so as to spread 
over the bed on watering, and not to settle at 
the bottom of the vessel. 
Pinks should be planted out before, but 
the present month is by no means too late. 
They ought not to be in the bed they are 
struck in so long as this ; and if they have 
been moved before, they have been more 
trouble than if removed when struck to the 
place they are to occupy. However, this is a 
very good time to make a Pink bed, which 
should be rich and clear of vermin ; the wire- 
worm, the most intolerable of all enemies to 
Pinks and Panseys — perhaps to everything 
else, can only be destroyed after catching ; for 
so far as we have learned from positive expe- 
rience, everything we have tried that destroyed 
the worm, destroyed the soil for the plants, 
and killed them also. There may be a time 
when we shall find a remedy; that, however, 
has not we think arrived yet. Planting be- 
tween the Pinks something that the wireworm 
prefers, such as Lettuce, Carrot, Daisy roots, 
and some other subjects, will divert their at- 
tention, and if frequently pulled up will de- 
stroy thousands ; for they work their way into 
whatever they attack, and cannot extricate 
themselves very quickly, but there remain to 
be taken and destroyed. It has been affirmed 
in one of our best authorities, that sowing 
White Mustard over a piece of infested ground 
will completely drive away or destroy them. 
We have not seen this tried, and much doubt 
it as a permanent remedy. It may drive 
them down for a season or so., but we cannot 
look upon it as any more than a temporary 
riddance, and should look for them again, 
whenever we sowed a crop more congenial to 
their habits and feelings. We have planted 
Lettuce, Carrots, and even Daisies, among 
Panseys and Pinks, and caught thousands, 
while the attacks of the vermin appeared to 
be confined to the subjects we placed to invite 
them. 
Annuals may be sown to stand over the 
winter in the beds and borders ; so also may they 
be sown in a sheltered place to be planted out 
in spring ; but those which stand the winter 
where tbey are sown, flower earlier, and 
stronger, and better than those planted out. 
Some of the kinds usually planted out in 
spring, may be sown under a garden frame 
and lights, so as to be protected from hard 
frost, and from that which is frequently more 
mischievous — excessive wet. Nemophilla in- 
signis, and other varieties of the same plant, 
makes an excellent stock plant in pots. Mig- 
nionette, Ten-week Stocks, Indian Pink, Ger- 
man Wallflowers, and many other subjects, 
are sown in pots, kept in a frame till the 
spring, and then plunged or planted out in the 
borders or beds. 
Seedling Perennials and Biennials may 
be planted out in the beginning of the month 
where they are to bloom, but they come much 
earlier when planted out in August. Colum- 
bines, Sweet Williams, Rockets, Wallflowers, 
Canterbury Bells, Stocks, and other plants of 
similar habit, may be planted out in nursery- 
beds, or in the places where they are to bloom. 
In nursery-beds they require to be six inches 
apart in the rows, and the rows should be a 
foot apart. 
Panseys may be still struck under a com- 
mon hand-glass, but they must be well covered, 
in case a sudden frost should attack them in 
their young state. The choice sorts may be 
struck in a frame, with a little bottom heat to 
assist ; but it is quite unnecessary, except to 
hasten the striking a little, which is often de- 
sirable with new varieties. Those in old beds 
may be cut down pretty close to the ground, 
and earthed up a little, when they will throw 
up plenty of shoots, which may afterwards be 
torn off with roots attached to them, and fit 
to plant out. Panseys already struck may be 
formed into new beds, and will be ready for 
very early flowering in the spring. 
Seeds. — Gather from all kinds of flowers 
from which you require them, and the flower 
