Zinnias intended for exhibition must be treated in a more generous fashion than plants that are grown for border decoration, or for the sake of yielding cut flowers.  The seed may be raised in heat as already directed, but the border will need to be prepared with special care and liberality.  Should the soil be heavy, it must be reduced to a friable state during winter.  Before the plants are put in, raise the land into ridges about four or five inches high.  Plant on the top of the ridge, and then an application of soot or lime (not too near to inflict injury) may be used as a precaution against slugs.  In a wet season the plants will stand a better chance than if put on the flat, and if a scorching summer comes they will be none the worse for it.  As the flowering time approaches mulch the ground with well-decayed manure.

The plants must be carefully staked and tied out.  It is not merely necessary to secure the main stem, but the branches should also be supported, or when weighted with flowers they will be very liable to give way under a moderate wind.  Superfluous branches may be removed, but not so severely as to start new growth to the detriment of the flowers.  Disbudding also will have to be practised for the highest class of flowers.  Only one bloom should be allowed to develop on each branch at a time, and this must be protected from sun and rain after it is about half grown.

==Spring flowers from seeds==

It is the spring flowers that perhaps give the greatest charm and interest to the English garden.  Commencing with the flowering trees, the Almond, Double Peach, =Prunus Pissardi=, and many others, we soon have the Daffodils, Wallflowers, and Pansies, making the ground bright and gay after the long dreary winter.  It may promote economy in the production of these brilliant and charming displays if we offer a few remarks on the employment of spring-flowering plants which can easily be raised for the purpose from seeds.  It will, of course, occur to the reader that a considerable proportion of the annuals that are usually sown in autumn are particularly adapted for producing rich and varied displays in spring.  A type of this class is found in the well-known Erysimum, Orange Gem, one of the cheapest, hardiest, and most resplendent plants of the kind, cheap enough for the humblest amateur to employ freely in his borders and beds, and at the same time so effective in its colouring as to be adapted for the most complex and highly finished examples of geometric work.  Another striking subject is the Siberian Wallflower (=Cheiranthus Allionii=), so nearly allied to the Erysimum, Orange Gem, the gorgeous orange flowers adding a fresh colour to the many new shades given us in recent years by the old English Wallflower.  Among the annuals are several valuable spring flowers—­such as, for example, =Nemophila insignis=, well known for its lovely blue blossoms, and the white variety, =alba=, of the same;