RETAIL PRICE-LIST FOR 1884. 
31 
unsuitable ; but if there is no alternative, and such must be used, then more care 
becomes necessary in planting the seed, in attention while germinating, and in the 
after culture of the plants. 
Seeds of Flowers are in general small and delicate, many nearly as fine as dust. 
It can be readily seen how very slender must be the little hair-like sprouts from these 
diminutive seeds, and how surely they must fail to grow, if roughly planted, or planted 
in soil as dry as ashes, or in soil coarse and lumpy, or covered an inch or more in 
depth, or in soil hard underneath, or beat down by rains and firmly crusted on top. 
A little observation on the part of the cultivator will show how carefully they must 
be planted, and how gently covered with soil. It is only necessary, with many of these 
finest, to scatter them on the surface, the ground having been previously made light, 
and the whole gently and carefully pressed afterwards. If the weather is hot and dry, 
cover with a light mat until germination takes place. Too early planting in the open 
ground while it is cold is a prolific source of trouble, and is to be avoided. Seeds thus 
planted are extremely liable to fail to germinate ; or, should they start, the plants at 
best grow feebly, linger along, and finally drop off one by one, until another planting 
becomes necessary, causing much care, loss of time, and with no further advancement 
than if the planting had been deferred until the soil had become mellow and warm. 
If early Flowers are wanted, start the seeds in the house, or in a hot-bed, where 
they can grow until the weather and ground are warm, and then plant them out in the 
garden ; but care is requisite while in the house or hot-bed, particularly the latter, 
that the heat is not so great as to injure the seed, or afterwards to burn the plants by 
failure to give sufficient air. 
Beginners in Flower Culture should procure some good and reliable treatise on 
gardening, to assist them at the outset, and afterwards improve on the information 
obtained by their own experience. 
Flowers are classified as Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, supplemented by varieties 
requiring Greenhouse culture. 
Annuals grow from the seed, bloom, and perish in one season. Some half- 
hardy varieties of longer duration are classed with Annuals, as they succeed treated 
as such. 
Biennials, from the seed, generally bloom the second year and then die. Some 
few varieties, if planted early, bloom the first year. 
Perennials, from the seed, bloom the second year, and every year thereafter, 
some perishing after three or four years, while others continue indefinitely. 
Seeds of Annuals may generally be expected, under favorable conditions, to ger- 
minate in ten to twenty days. 
Perennial varieties are uncertain, some of the varieties remaining in the ground 
for a long time beforo starting into growth. Experiments have proved that some have 
thus remained for a year from planting, and then come up thickly and made a strong 
growth. Purchasers of these should not make haste to complain of the quality of the 
seed, but should make all due allowance for the habits of the varieties. 
The following list, whioh has been prepared with much care, embraces the choicest 
species and varieties in cultivation — for the most part those that have been thor- 
oughly tested and have proved valuable; while some varieties of recent introduction, 
promising well, have been included in the list. 
For Newest varieties see Special List, page 47, this Catalogue. 
