no THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, September 1 , 1857. 
will save all the bother of raising them on hotbeds; but 
the white and purple Glarkias the biue, the white, and 
the spotted Nemophilas; the Collinsia bicolor, Gilia 
tricolor , and Limnanthes Douglasii aie the hardiest 
and showiest, except Douglasii. The Godetia Lind- 
leyana and rubicunda are also very beautiful when well 
done, but to do them thoroughly they ought to be twice 
transplanted; first any time in February, and secondly 
at the end of April. If they are put among bedding 
plants, or earlier if on mixed borders, as they grow tall— 
from fifteen to twenty inches under this treatment— 
they should occupy the middle of the beds. The 
Limnanthes ought also to be twice transplanted, as it is 
apt to trail too much on good ground. A row of it 
formed of single self-sown seedlings, and transplanted 
on a new border before Christmas in the Experimental, 
extended two feet six inches, and would have made a 
full yard of it were it not clipped next to the walk. 
White and purple Candytufts are well suited for Gera¬ 
nium beds to come in between the rows. The deep 
purple Candytuft, which they call New Scarlet, does not 
come true from seed. We pulled up all the pale purple 
last year, and flowered none but the very best purple, 
from which we have barely five per cent, of good colour. 
Eutoca multiflora and Whitlavia grandijiora, a bro¬ 
ther and sister, and nearly blue, do better in peat beds 
unless it is a drenching May—they cannot stand drought. 
The white and red Virginian Stocks are the first to 
bloom in spring from early September sowing; and the 
Sweet Alyssum is best from an autumn sowing. The blue 
Branching Larkspur and the yellow Erysimum Per of- 
skianum do well trained flat, and last longer than the 
Clarkias. 
Callichroaplatyglossa and Bartonia aurea are the next 
best yellows, but the Bartonia should be planted when 
very young; and the last is about as good as the first— 
the sky-blue Corn-flower, Centaurca cyanea. Always sow 
a pinch of it in September, and another about the 
middle of April: it is one of the best cut flowers we 
have. All the duchesses are quite as fond of it as school 
girls. I do not recollect any more worth naming, but if 
one had room to stow away under glass a lot of autumn- 
sown annuals, that would be the way to have gay flower¬ 
beds in May, with herbaceous Calceolarias, Schizan- 
thuses, and a few others of the half-hardy kinds. 
D. Beaton. 
CRYSTAL PALACE FLOWER SHOW. 
At this Exhibition, on the Oth, 10th, and 11th instant, 
gardeners will each be admitted on the first day of the 
Show for two shillings, and on the other two days for one 
shilling each. 
ONE YEAR’S SEEDS, SEVEN YEARS’ WEEDS. 
Those readers of The Cottage Gardener who 
have paid attention to what may be called the economics 
of gardening will be aware that the heading of these 
remarks is as old as the hills. That seeds rob the crops 
existing or to come surely no sane person will doubt; 
that they are, therefore, expensive intruders is equally 
certain. Now, as to their being robbers of the present 
crop we will take it for granted; but do people calculate 
with sufficient caution their reversionary character, to 
use a law phrase? 
As to their present effects I will venture to affirm 
that a crop of weeds amongst general field or garden 
crops, if allowed to rise to nearly their full stature, will 
deduct twenty per cent, of value, taking their conjoint 
effects on the present crop, and the abstracted qualities 
ot the soil as to the future. But to come to the vitality 
of seeds, there is not a single person in Europe who 
can determine with precision how long each kind of weed 
will endure : the majority of scientific men, however, are 
agreed to impute a much longer amount of endurance 
to them than casual observers are apt to do. We have 
all heard of certain oily seeds, such as those of plants 
belonging to the cruciferous order, which are said to 
last in the soil, under certain conditions, for nearly a 
century. 
About the celebrated mummy seeds I will say but little, 
as I fear many of the so-called facts stated in connection 
with them may stand on disputable ground; but that 
one year’s seeding of this kind, such as Charlock, will 
entail a vast amount of subsequent labour there can be 
no doubt. But then, again, we have the disorderly ap¬ 
pearance attached to a weedy garden or farm. In such 
cases either the plans are bad, or there is a deficiency 
of labour, or both. Now, most persons who cultivate 
a garden set out in the spring with a determination 
to clean the garden, and to keep it clean afterwards; 
but not one in half a dozen, perhaps, sustains that 
determination, but allows what may be termed the July 
weeds to obtain and preserve a footing until the usual 
period of cleaning in autumn, when, of course, another 
bold dash is made at the weeds, in order to appear 
decent through the succeeding winter. But how pitiful 
a policy is this! What is thus done appears to be 
more for the sake of appearance than on principle. By 
this period the whole garden is once more filled with 
seeds to strangle ensuing crops. In all this there is not 
only a considerable loss constantly going on as to the 
value of the crops, but also as to the labour question, for 
much labour is thrown away in their extirpation; and 
if none extra is employed it is evident that other 
departments must suffer in consequence. 
To say little for the present about our pleasure 
grounds, who will say that a clean, systematic, and 
well-stocked kitchen garden is an unimportant adjunct 
of a homestead? In my opinion there is no part of a 
garden which possesses more interest than a kitchen 
garden well conducted. 
Now, there are various ways of attacking weeds, and 
three of the most prominent may be here adverted 
to—by the spade, the hoe, and the hand. In early 
spring the necessity for a liberal use of the spade 
causes of itself the garden to assume a tidy appearance 
in general. No sooner, however, are the spring crops 
fairly in than these enemies lift up their heads, and the 
hoe is presently called into requisition. This proceeding 
generally occurs during dry periods, for which May and 
part of June are in general notorious, and at that period 
the rising crops demand the use of this implement. 
Towards July we expect a considerable amount of rain, 
such, frequently, as our Cheshire farmers term a 
“ dumberdash,” and this has a tendency to bathe the 
ground, and to cause weeds to grow and spread like 
wildfire, the warmth of that period acting in con¬ 
junction to produce those sudden effects which are 
ascribed to certain tropical climes. 
In many cases where there has been neglect the hoe 
becomes inefficient to the end in vie\y, and good 
gardeners, who can raise manual labour enough without 
compromising various other matters, not unfrequently 
betake themselves to the spade. 
The spade is, indeed, of immense value, as compared 
with the hoe, under trying circumstauces ; but I am sorry 
to say that, from such a general desire to cramp the 
labour account, not many can carry out what they 
desire. Scarcely twenty per cent, of really good first- 
class English gardeners can carry out one-half their 
views, so that the neglect and miscarriage which 
occur in the hands of first-rate men are seldom for want 
of knowledge. Indeed, if we look over the world, where 
is the class of gardeners to be found that equals those to 
be found in Britain ? I wish I could here impress on 
