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THE LADIES MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
of the fork to make it firm. A bed for raising annuals need not be above 
two or three feet high, and it should be placed from east to west, so as to 
have the frame sloping towards the south. The frame must then be put 
on, and covered with a mat till the heat rises. When this is the case, the 
frame must be opened a little to let off the steam and bad air, but it 
must be covered again at night. In about three days the bed will have 
become sweet, which may be proved by putting a lighted candle inside 
the frame. If the candle burns, the bed is fit for being covered about six 
inches deep with fine mould, and as soon as this becomes a little warm, 
drills may be made in it, in which the seeds should be sown. The bed 
should afterwards be gently sprinkled with water. When the plants 
come up, air must be given freely every day, till they have unfolded 
their second pair of leaves, when they will be fit for transplanting into 
pots, where they may remain, being gradually hardened by more and 
more exposure to the air every day, till they are ready to remove into 
the open ground in May. Where there is not a regular sashed frame, 
four pieces of wood nailed together by a carpenter, and a lid covered with 
oiled paper, or oil-cloth, will do very well. 
Among the annuals which may be raised on a hotbed, are Balsams, 
Coxcombs, the Globe Amaranth, the annual Ice-plants, Petunias, Salpi- 
glossus, Schizanthus, the German Asters, all the Zinnias, Browallia alata, 
Calandrinia discolor, Clintonia pulchella, Bartonia aurea, Loasa or 
Caiophora laterita or aurantiaca, the Chinese Pinks, the yellow Ever¬ 
lasting, both species of Morna, the Lophospermums, and Maurandyas, 
Rhodochiton volubilis, the Eccremocarpus or Calempelis, the ten-week 
Stocks; the French Marigolds, the different kinds of Mimulus, parti¬ 
cularly the Musk-plant, the Canary-bird flower (Tropasolum aduncum) 
Thunbergia alata, and several of the Verbenas. Many of these will 
succeed very well when sown in the open ground; but they flower 
earlier and stronger when raised in heat. 
The other operations for March are taking up and dividing perennials, 
planting box edgings, repairing gravel walks, and, in short, putting the 
garden in order for spring. 
