Ill 
SPRING WORK 
75 
plants are growing they will require a little 
careful watering. Never let them get too 
dry, so that they droop or wither, but never 
water so violently as to wash away the seeds. 
When they have grown up, either in boxes 
or in the open ground, they will be over¬ 
crowded and too close together, so they must 
be “thinned out” — that is to say, a great 
many of the small plants pulled up, so as to 
leave room for the rest to grow. In time even 
the remaining ones will be too close if kept in 
their boxes, and will require what gardeners 
call “ pricking out.” Remove them carefully 
as soon as they have three or four leaves and 
are large enough to handle easily, and plant 
them in rows in some corner where they will 
not be disturbed, using a “dibble” or pointed 
stick to make a nice hole for each little root. 
They will have to remain in these places all the 
summer, and in the autumn or the following 
spring you can plant them where they are to 
live and flower. Annuals will want very much 
the same treatment ; only when they are planted 
out from their boxes they must be put straight 
away into the place where they are to stay. 
But it is by no means necessary to sow all 
seeds in boxes ; in fact, some do better if put in 
the garden to begin with, but they will require 
thinning out, as a rule, just as if they were in 
