CATALOUGB 
tepid water, and sow in February in eight inch pots or seed pans, 
filled to within one inch of the top with a compost of one part 
loam, one leaf-mold, and one-half silver sand ; cover the seed one- 
half inch deep with the same compost sifted fine; water and 
place in a warm frame or under a hand glass, where they will 
germinate in ten or twelve days. When the plants are an inch 
high, pot them into four-inch pots, and plunge them in sand or 
tan in a warm frame, where they may remain until time for 
planting out. In good soil and exposure to the sun, they will 
blossom in July. 
The properties of a First Class Verbena should be, vigorous 
foliage, with dwarf, close-spreading habit, truss large, slightly 
convex, and thrown well above the foliage ; there should be not 
less than fifteen to twenty pips or flower Umbels in each, these 
should be smooth, and of good substance, broad segment of 
petal, a well-defined eye, and of sufficient stamina to withstand 
the hot sun without being burned up. The truss, to be perfect, 
should show all its pips fully expanded at a time. In some va- 
rieties the outer circles begin to fall, or fade before the center is 
fully developed, showing a long, ragged, unsightly truss. 
If for Spring planting, should be done in January. I use 
four-inch pots, placing in the bottom of each a piece of broken 
crock for drainago, upon this one inch-and-a-half of leaf-mold, 
filling out the pot with clear silver sand, and give water sufficient 
to thoroughly soak the sand. I then prepare the cuttings, by 
choosing the points of the most vigorous shoots, cutting them ; 
from two to three inches in length, below and near a joint ; trim < 
off the lower leaves, and with a pointed stick prick the cuttings | 
into the sand about half their length, and near the edge of the 
pot. Water the whole in order to settle the sand compactly \ 
about them. I then place the pots upon a shelf fully exposed to 
