THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
308 
[March 7. 
adjutors, Messrs. Beaton and Fish, will give their 
opinions on the value of liquid manures when 
properly applied ; our friend Mr. Barnes we know 
is an advocate for their use, and so is Mr. Appleby. 
R. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Sowing Seeds : Half-hardy Animals .—Sow the 
following seeds any time before the middle of the 
month, if you have the convenience of a slight hot¬ 
bed ; but, if you never reared such things before, it is 
better that you should wait to the end of the month, 
for all the seeds that I shall mention to-day will do 
if they are got in befoije the end of April. The only 
difference is, that they will be later in coming into 
flower—but not in the proportion of the time that may 
be lost in the spring. I have sometimes noticed that 
seeds out of the same packet sown at an interval of 
six weeks in spring, have flowered within twelve days 
of each other in the summer. Much depends on the 
season, and the convenience one has to rear them ; 
and, no doubt, much depends on the skill of the 
manager. In general, I would not advise new be¬ 
ginners to attempt too much early in the season, for 
we all know how tiresome it is to loose things after 
we have taken all the pains we can with them; and 
without some considerable practice very little seed¬ 
lings are apt to be lost through very slight and un- 
forseen causes. 
Soil.—-For annuals, and indeed for most other 
seeds, I put little stress on the kind of soil for them; 
for this reason, that as soon as the seedlings are 
large enough to be handled, they ought to be removed 
into other pots and transplanted singly; and this 
will be necessary in about three weeks, or a month 
at farthest, after sowing. The only thing which I 
can think of now to give strong advice about, is this: 
if I have a packet of very choice seeds which, for 
various reasons, I must trust to a young man, to 
whose department the seeds belong; as in large 
places this and all the rest of the work is divided 
among so many foremen—every one of them looking 
after his own things, and is responsible for them ; 
well, suppose this young man has not had much ex¬ 
perience yet in managing seedlings, I would caution 
him particularly not to use any leaf-mould, or soil 
with which manure has been mixed—two very good 
things in their way, and much used with our com¬ 
mon seeds; but knowing that the young plants 
from this packet of seeds come up very slender, and 
are peculiarly liable to damp off while very young, and 
knowing that enriched soil is more favourable to damp 
than very poor sandy soil, I charge him to guard 
against this, and to use the poorer compost; and 
for the same reason, knowing that very poor soil 
is more favourable to bring the seedlings on firm 
and hardy, I would advise all new beginners to use 
nothing better for their seed pots. The rest I shall 
notice under each head or name as I proceed. 
Mesembryanthemum Pykopceum, or Tricolor, as 
it is oftener called, is one of the most dwarfish and 
prettiest little annuals I know, and not at all difficult 
to manage. It is one of those things we call succu¬ 
lents, and belongs to a family of Cape plants. The 
Ice plant is of this family, and there are I know not 
how many hundreds of different kinds, or species, of 
this one family, all of them living on the most scanty 
food in the barren plains, and on rocks in South 
Africa. The largest book with coloured figures of 
plants I ever saw, was entirely devoted to this single 
family, by a German prince (Prince Salem Dick); 
i and I am almost sure this annual is the prettiest of 
the whole. Therefore, it is surely worth growing ; 
and a sixpenny packet of seeds would fill a good sized 
bed. It is the best thing we have to fill a very shallow 
fancy vase, for it will flower in profusion if the soil 
is three inches deep. It will grow equally well on a 
rich vine border, flowering for two months; and might 
be had in flower from midsummer to the end of 
j September, by sowing it now ; again about the mid¬ 
dle of April ; and a third sowing about the tenth of 
| May ; but those sown in March do best. For growing 
, seeds of choice things like this, five-inch pots are 
1 best. They are not too small to be always wanting 
! water, nor too large to hold the soil long wet after 
watering, and so encourage dampness among the 
j seedlings. All seed pots should be well drained ; and 
for almost all the finer annuals the pots ought to be 
watered before the seeds are sown, and not after, for 
small seeds are very liable to be displaced by the first 
watering before the soil is settled round them ; and 
, by watering the pot first, then sowing the seeds, and 
pressing these down very even and gently after they 
j are covered, the seeds get imbedded in their proper 
places: the covering of dry mould, which should not 
be deeper than just to cover the seeds, will suck up 
part of the moisture from around the seeds, and the 
whole surface is then in that comfortable condition 
which we call “neither wet nor dry.” J f the pots 
are put by in this state, and kept in the dark in a 
slight hotbed until the seedlings begin to appear, very 
little water indeed will suffice ; and the less of it given 
to seed pots the better, provided the pots are not 
allowed to get too dry. As soon as this and all other 
half-hardy seedlings are well up out of the soil, they 
ought to beinuured to the light and air at once, and 
be brought out of the seed bed in a few days, and 
placed in some warm, dry situation, away from 
draught, for the first ten or twelve days; but early in 
the spring much depends on the weather. Whether 
the weather be favourable or not, however, they must 
not remain in a hotbed longer than I stated, unless 
it is a very slight one indeed, and that large ]>ortions 
of air can be given ; but if this can be admitted, it 
would be the best possible way to manage them for the 
first six weeks, or until they are strong enough to 
stand in a cold pit on the front of a greenhouse. 
Mesembryanthemum Glabum is a very old fashion¬ 
ed annual of this class, but rather a pretty one if 
well managed. It has large, lemon-coloured flowers, 
and lasts a long time in bloom. One sowing of it 
any time in March will be enough, as it is an au¬ 
tumnal flowerer. The same treatment as for the 
last will do for it. 
Ci.intonia Pulchella. — The pretty Clintonia is 
also an elegant but very dwarf plant; just one of 
those gems which all lovers of flowers like to see in 
their season. The flowers are blue and white, and 
although I range it with half-hardy things it is in 
reality as hardy as a crocus, being from North West 
America. Nevertheless it is well worth early nur¬ 
sing as a tenderling, after the manner first directed. 
Rhodanthe Manglessu, or Capt. Mangles’ Rose- 
flower, is another of these little gems, and the last of 
them which I shall mention to-day. It is very like 
an everlasting flower, and is nearly one in reality. 
The same treatment will bring this forward also, in¬ 
deed, I grouped them together on this account. 
D. Beaton. 
( To be continued.) 
