oor, liberally manured. It is an excellent plan also to sow hardy
annuals outdoors in autumn, but it is needless to say more on this
subject here, as it is dealt with fully at page 313.

==Half-hardy Annuals.==--Give these as long a period of growth as possible
to insure a vigorous plant before the season of flowering. The best time
for sowing is February, or the beginning of March; for although some
kinds may with advantage be sown earlier, it is safer, as a rule, to
wait for sunshine and full daylight, so as to keep up a steady and
continuous growth. The soil for the seed-pans should be rich and fine.
Good loam, improved by the addition of thoroughly decayed manure and
leaf-mould, with sufficient sand to render the texture porous, will suit
all kinds of annuals that are sown in pans under glass. Sow the seed
thinly, cover very slightly, and lay squares of glass over to keep a
uniform degree of moisture without the necessity of watering. Should
watering become necessary, take care to avoid washing the seeds out. If
the pans or pots are stood in a vessel containing several inches depth
of water until sufficient has been absorbed, there will be no occasion
to pour water on the surface. A gentle heat is to be preferred; when
germination is too rapid it tends to the production of weak plants. As
soon as the young plants appear, remove the glasses and place the
seed-pans in the fullest light, where air can be given without danger to
them. A dry east wind blowing fiercely over them will prove a blast of
death. If they have no air at all, they will be puny, rickety things,
scarcely worth planting out. Choice varieties should be carefully
pricked out into pans and pots as soon as large enough; this will
promote a fine, stocky growth and a splendid development of flowers.
Take care not to plant out until the weather is favourable, for any
great check will undo all your work, and make starvelings of your
nurslings. If you cannot command heat for half-hardy annuals, sow in the
first week in April, put the pans in a frame facing south, and the seeds
will soon grow and do well. If that is too much trouble, sow in the open
border early in May, making the border rich and friable, that they may
have a good chance from the first.

==Tender Annuals.==--These require the same general treatment as advised
for half-hardy annuals. But it is desirable to sow in a stronger heat
than is necessary for annuals that are to be planted out. It is a