ANNUALS AND BULBS 129 
wanted for late flowering. Always bear in 
mind the absolute necessity of thin sowing, or 
else of drastic thinning out when the seedlings 
are an inch or two high. 
Where the seed is very small, such as 
poppy seed or mignonette, it is well to mix it 
with three times the quantity of fine sand, then 
sowing it as carefully as if it were all seed. A 
plant of mignonette or nemophila has been 
known to make a growth of 3 feet in circum- 
ference, and to sow thickly is not only waste of 
seed but weakens the young plants. A plan 
advised by the raiser of the Shirley poppy, the 
Rev. S. Wilks, is to scatter the seed thinly 
and broadcast. Then, when the seedlings are 
an inch high, hoe the bed across in lines 
1 8 inches wide, leaving only thin lines of seed- 
lings. Then hoe across these lines others 
1 8 inches or a foot wide. This will give the 
remaining plants room to grow and spread. 
The finest Shirley poppies are grown from seed 
sown in autumn where they are to flower, and 
the thinnings can be transplanted in spring if 
taken up with a trowel with as little disturbance 
as possible. Zinnias should be sown in gentle 
heat in April, or in a cold frame in boxes, and 
then pricked out like stocks and asters. They 
like a deeply worked soil and feeding, but 
