as to moisture: they must
never be wet, never dry, and the water must not be slopped about
carelessly. It is a good rule to immerse the pots or pans in a vessel
containing soft water, slightly tepid. When the seedlings begin to
appear, give a little air and lay sheets of paper tenderly over them
during the hour or two at midday when the sun may be shining brightly.
But keep them from the first as 'hard' as possible with plenty of light
and air, always taking care that they are neither roasted, nor blown
away by the cruel east wind, nor nipped at night by a killing frost. A
few old mats or light loppings of trees laid over the frame from sundown
to sunrise will be sufficient protection at those trying times; and when
spring frosts are making havoc with the tender sprouting leaf and bloom
in every part of the garden those little things will be safe under their
glass cover, and slight experience will show that a common frame may
become a miniature hot-house in the hands of one who has learned to make
failure the stepping-stone to success. We must not omit to mention that
the owner of such a garden, or, indeed, of any garden, will be prudent
to take advantage of the first fine weather to sow in the open ground
whatever flower or vegetable seeds should be sown at that season. The
frame garden can be reserved, if needful, for wet weather, because it is
of the utmost importance to sow a good breadth of seeds in the open
ground as early as possible in the month of March.

Turning from this small example to the great garden, it will be obvious
that to those who always have heavy work on hand the advantages of this
transference, of labour from the old system to the new are immense. Both
to employers and gardeners the advantages are of importance; the
propagation of bedders by cuttings, and of florists' flowers by suckers
and divisions and layers and pipings, will not, of course, be completely
abolished; but for all ordinary purposes the ends in view may be
accomplished more simply, more expeditiously, and more cheaply than
heretofore. The pits hitherto appropriated to bedders, and the like, may
to a great extent be liberated, and there will be no difficulty in
finding for them more profitable occupants. While Mushrooms and early
Potatoes and winter salads are in request, it will be a gain to many a
garden to have reduced the summer display of flowers to a simple system
of seed-sowing, at an expense that may be described as merely