SHie Jflotucr (harden. 
Sowing- Fine Seeds. 
Great judgment is required to sow all kinds of seeds 
in a manner that shall crown our efforts with success. 
The soil must he in proper condition, neither too wet 
nor too dry, too cold nor too warm. The proper d«'pth 
for covering will depend upon the size or fineness of 
the seeds. Very small seeds, such as Petunia, Clark - 
ia , Pinks, etc., are more apt to succeed when scarcely 
covered at all, provided they can be kept from becom¬ 
ing too dry. We usually sow such directly upon the 
surface of the bed, gently water them with a very fine 
spray, and then cover the surface over with a pane of 
glass, or even a piece of muslin or paper laid directly 
upon the surface and allowed to remain only until the 
seeds have sprouted. Asters, Zinnias, Balsams, Por- 
tulacas, and others which are styled half-hardy annu¬ 
als, either require the aid of artificial heat to assist 
germination, and then are transplanted from the hot¬ 
beds to their permanent situations, or else the sowing 
of them should be deferred until the soil becomes 
thoroughly warmed,—say the last of May in this lat¬ 
itude As a general thing most flowers succeed best 
if first sown m a seed bed, (an old box filled with fine 
soil will answer first-rate,) and then transplanted, and 
we advise this method in preference to sowing in the 
open ground, for several reasons which will readily 
become apparent to any one who tries it, without our 
stating them here. 
Of transplanting we shall speak in the tuture, and 
we shall strive to give from time to time such direc¬ 
tions as will enable even the most inexperienced to 
plant and cultivate any of these vat ieties successfully, 
yet we would remind the reader of the trite old saying, 
‘•Experience is the best teacher.” 
Our Hardy Annuals. 
Elsewhere in this Jou nai may be found a list 
which embraces over one hundred and fifty of the 
choicest varieties of Flowers known in cultivation. 
They have been collected from almost every part of 
the civilized world and require various modes of treat¬ 
ment. None have been a ided to this list for the pur¬ 
pose of filling in, but all are believed to have some 
redeeming feature which entitles them to a place in 
every collection. Yet we realize that the number is 
so large that it will be impossible for every cultivator 
to include them all in making up a flower garden. 
To give an illustration, or even a short description, of 
each in one issue of Seed-Time and Harvest is 
simply impossible. YVe shall therefore make selections 
from the list and picture and describe them from time 
to time in succeeding numbers, until those of our 
readers who will save these numbers will have a vol¬ 
ume describing all or most of them, with valuable 
notes upon their cultivation. 
PAiONY-FLOWERED ASTER. 
Our Hardy Annuals are yearly becoming more gen¬ 
erally grown in consequence of their simple culture 
and the small amount of trouble they give the amateur 
as well as their comparative inexpensiveness for their 
rich array of beauty. Without them a continuous 
and uninterrupted display of flowers from spring til 
frost cannot well be obtained. Indeed we can think 
of nothing at all to be compared in cost and trouble in 
attaining, which will add so much rea 1 pleasure, com¬ 
fort and happiness, to the surroundings of a country 
or village home, as a good selection of common annu¬ 
als well arrang'-d and cared for. Admitting the su¬ 
premacy of some of our perennials and bedding 
plants, ’ilies, dahlias, gladioli, &o., what should we do 
without the grand pieony-flowered and German asters 
the brilliant beds of Drummond phlox, the boldly 
marked and richly colored petunias, the double port- 
ulaccas, variegated balsams, pinks, zinnias and a 
hundred others, less known perhaps, but not a wlut 
behind them in beauty and elegance? Please do not 
for a moment think that those we illustrate are the 
most beautiful to be found in our list. Full prettier 
ones may be shown hereafter in succeeding numbers. 
