lso
requisite to be in good time in pricking out the seedlings, for if they
get much drawn they cannot make robust pot plants. A light, rich,
perfectly sweet soil, containing a fair proportion of sharp sand, is
necessary to insure plants worth having. It is also important to get
them into separate small pots as soon as possible, and to shift them on
to larger and larger pots, until they have sufficient pot room for
flowering, after which shift no more. As soon as these pots are filled
with roots, give very weak manure water constantly until the plants are
in flower, and then discontinue it, using instead pure soft water only.

==Hardy Biennials and Perennials.==--These are often sown in pans or
boxes, and are pricked off when large enough into other pans or pots
before they are transferred to beds or borders. The system has certain
advantages in insuring safety from vermin and proper attention, for it
is an unfortunate fact that too many cultivators consider it needless to
thin or transplant sowings made in beds or borders. The plants are
frequently allowed to struggle for existence, and the result is feeble
attenuated specimens which, with trifling care and attention, might have
become robust and capable of producing a bountiful bloom in their
season. Still, it should be clearly understood that all the hardy
biennials and perennials may be grown to perfection by sowing on a
suitable seed-bed in the open ground, protecting the spot from marauders
of all kinds, and by early and fearless thinning or transplanting. As a
rule, we advocate one shift before placing the plants in final
positions.

==ABUTILON==

==Half-hardy greenhouse perennial==

Handsome plants, two feet or more in height, can be produced from seed
and flowered in a single season. They are useful for training to
greenhouse walls, and they may also be transferred to open borders for
the summer. When employed for the latter purpose, the plants should be
lifted and put into pots about the end of August, after there has been a
penetrating shower. In the absence of rain a soaking of water on the
previous day will prevent the soil from falling away from the roots.

February and March are the right months for sowing seed, and for the
pots any fairly light compost will answer. Prick off the seedlings when
about an inch high, putting the plants in down to the seed-leaves. They
must never be allowed to suffer for want of water, nor should they be
starved in sm