of growth is necessary for their development.  Thus Phloxes, Verbenas, and Hollyhocks, plants that differ immensely in habit and constitution, may all be sown in February, and put side by side in the same warm pit or vinery, or even in the warmest corner of any greenhouse, and the very same treatment will suit them equally well.  The soil should be principally loam and sand, with a little old thoroughly well-rotted manure from a hot-bed or compost heap; and light, air, and moisture must be regulated with a view to insure a free and vigorous growth from the first, with the least possible amount of artificial heat.  In some cases, however, the sowing should be deferred to March or April, and the result will be far more satisfactory than the growth made under the stimulus of artificial heat earlier in the season.  But in every case the plants must have sufficient time; for although the rapid system has been developed, the constitution of the plants remains unchanged, and those which have heretofore been classed as biennials and perennials need a long season when treated as annuals.

A considerable proportion of the finest flowers may be raised from seed by the aid of a frame and a little careful management.  We will take as an example a very restricted garden.  Here is a small frame and some packets of seed, and the month of February or March has arrived.  The pans and pots are made ready with sweet sandy compost, and the seeds are sown and labelled, and the pans and pots are packed together in the frame on a bed of clean coal ashes, or some slates, or tiles, or bricks laid on the soil, to promote warmth and cleanliness and to prevent the intrusion of worms among the seeds.  By simple management almost as quick a growth of seeds can be insured in this frame as with the aid of a hot-bed, and the secret consists in careful storage of the heat of the sun.  Lay over the seed-pans sheets of glass to prevent evaporation, and let the sun shine full upon them.  Be careful 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