28 LADIES FLOWER GARDENER. 
will bloom handsomely; and no lady will be disappointed of that 
pleasure, if a compost heap forms one essential, in a hidden cor¬ 
ner of the flower garden. If you raise your perennials from 
seed, sow it in the last week in March in a bed of light earth, in 
the open ground. Let the bed be in a genial, warm situation, 
and divide it into small compartments; a compartment for each 
sort of seed. 
Sow the seed thin, and rake or break the earth over them finely. 
Let the larger seed be sown half an inch deep, and the smaller 
seed a quarter of an inch. Water the beds in dry weather often 
with a watering pot, not a jug. The rose of the watering pot 
distributes the water equally among the seedlings; whereas, 
water dashed upon them from a jug falls in masses, and forms 
holes in the light earth, besides prostrating the delicate seedling. 
About the end of May, the seedlings will be fit to remove into 
another nursery bed, to gain strength till October; or be planted 
at once where they are to remain. Put the plants six inches 
apart, and water them moderately, to settle the earth about their 
roots. 
But it is rarely required to sow seed for perennial plants,- 
they multiply so vigorously and quickly of themselves, by offsets; 
and cuttings may be made of the flower stalks in May and June 
in profusion. 
The double Scarlet lychnis , and those plants which rise with 
firm flower stems, make excellent cuttings, and grow freely when 
planted in moist weather. Double Rochets , Lychnidea , and many 
others, succeed well. 
Carnation and pinlc seedlings must be taken great care of. 
They will be ready to plant out about the middle of June, and as 
innumerable varieties spring from sowing seed, they should be 
planted carefully in a bed by themselves six inches asunder, and 
they will flower the following year, when you can choose the 
