380 ' CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS, [chap. xii. 
form the most laborious period of the gar¬ 
dener’s year. 
April . 
In the first week of this month many 
gardeners transplant their biennials, instead 
of putting them into the ground in March. 
The hollyhocks should have a hole dug for 
each plant two feet deep, at the bottom of 
which should be thrown three or four spade¬ 
fuls of strong stable manure. Many gar¬ 
deners also plant their dahlia-roots in this 
month, though others delay this operation 
till May, or even June. However this may 
be, the tubers of the dwarf kinds should be 
planted at about three feet apart, but the 
larger sorts should be four feet or five feet 
from each other every way. The soil should 
be in a sandy loam, not too rich, lest the 
plants should produce more leaves than 
flowers, and not too poor, lest the flowers 
should be poor also. In planting the tubers, 
care should be taken to arrange them in 
such a manner that the colours of the flowers 
they produce shall have a harmonious effect. 
In this month the auriculases generally begin 
