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 nominal.

Before dealing specifically with certain flowers, it may be advisable to say a few words generally concerning the culture of Annuals—­Hardy, Half-hardy, and Tender—­and also on hardy Biennials and Perennials.

==Annuals==.—­Although the most popular kinds of annuals are largely employed in the embellishment of flower gardens, they are adapted for many uses to which they may with advantage be more frequently applied.  A few misconceptions prevail as to the relative merits of this class of plants.  By some they are regarded as ‘weedy’ and ‘short-lived.’  Their very cheapness, and the relatively small amount of skill required in their cultivation, tend in some degree to detract from their value in public estimation.  We will not be so rash as to say that a more extended use of annuals would render unnecessary the cultivation of what are especially known as ‘bedding plants’; but there is something to be said on behalf of annuals that may be worth the consideration of all who are interested in the development of freshness, variety, and richness of colour in the flower garden.  In the first place, these plants come into flower within a comparatively short period of time from the sowing of the seed, and it is a matter of considerable importance that a large proportion of the best continue beautiful until the very close of the season.  Sometimes in the autumn Geraniums become literally washed out, while Tom Thumb Nasturtiums may be ablaze with colour, and continue so when the Geraniums are