==Hardy Annuals.==—­The seeds should be sown on a carefully prepared surface from which large stones have been removed, and the clods must be broken, but the soil should not be made so smooth as to become pasty under rain.  Sow thinly, in rows spaced to agree with the height of the plant, cover with a very slight coat of fine dry earth—­the smallest seeds needing but a mere dusting to cover them—­and, from the first, keep the plants thinned sufficiently to prevent overcrowding.  Spring-sown annuals are worthy of a better soil than they usually have allotted them, and also of more careful treatment.  It is not wise to sow earlier than March or later than the middle of April.  In the after-culture the most important matter is to keep the clumps well thinned.  Not only will the bloom of crowded plants be comparatively poor and brief, but by early and bold thinning the plants will become so robust, and cover such large spaces of ground with their ample leafage and well-developed flowers, as really to astonish people who think they know all about annuals, and who may have ventured after much ill-treatment to designate them ‘fugacious and weedy.’  Although the sowing of hardy annuals direct on to beds and borders where the plants are wanted is economical in labour and avoids the check which transplanting occasions, the practice of raising annuals on specially prepared seed-beds and pricking out the plants to blooming quarters is sometimes followed.  The soil into which they are transferred for flowering should be deeply dug, thoroughly broken up, and, if at all poor, 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