have received a gentle watering to settle the surface soil, but not sufficient to saturate the mass of earth in the pot, they may be transferred to the frame, plunging the pots as before recommended. The frame will require to be kept close for a few days, and shaded from bright sunshine till the plants have somewhat recovered from the effects of transplanting, and be afterwards treated, as regards shading and the admission of air, in the way directed above for the frame they occupied previously. If the pricking off is to be made directly into soil in the frame-and it has much to recommend it to those who have only scanty time to devote to watering, and only very limited space-the mode to be adopted is the same as in transferring to pots, only that straight lines and tolerably exact measurement must be attended to. A piece of string long enough to pass from side to side of the frame, or a straight-edge in wood and two measuringsticks two inches long, with a board or couple of boards to prevent treading and disturbing the surface, are aids that are requisite on this plan. If the work is not done regularly and correctly, it is doubtful whether economy of space will ultimately be effected. The measuring-sticks must be used to tell off the first line from the side of the frame, and a string be stretched, or a line formed by the straight-edge being pressed equally into the soil from end to end, just sufficiently to guide the operator in planting. The plantlets are then to be dibbled on the line two inches apart, and the succeeding line be placed the same distance from the first-and so on to the end. The labels are best placed so as to read from the front of the frame, with their backs to the subject they indicate. By the first or second week in May many will

And now the air may be

have made considerable progress, and may then be subjected to a process of hardening off, or gradual inuring to the conditions of the outer air, preparatory to being finally transferred to their permanent positions in the borders. Shading should have been discontinued some time before this, and a little air have been left on by tilting at the back at night. freely increased at night, and the lights be taken off in the daytime, using them only for the purpose of protecting the plants from heavy thunder-showers and chilly nights, till near the end of the month, when they may be laid aside altogether, as by that time the plants may be turned out without any risk, notwithstanding their tender nursing.

We must return to the seed-frame briefly. Many kinds of seeds, as before stated, are slow to come away, and must not be hastened, as nothing is to be gained thereby in their case. But impatience and hasty decisions as to the probability of their ever making a start should not be allowed to affect the chance of their germinating, by inducing careless treatment. A uniform equable temperature should be kept up as long as there is any hope, and that should extend in the case of some subjects at least till the following season. Some Ranunculacea, as Anemone and Trollius, Lilies and other Liliacea, the perennial Gentians, Primula, and others of the same natural order—some Umbelliferæ, as Eryngium and its allies, and Iris and other hardy genera of that natural order—are often slow to germinate (not, however, invariably so), to the extent of lying dormant after sowing for twelve months; but if they do not start the first season they may do so the second, and therefore they should

not hastily be disposed of. The majority of the kinds will, however, have germinated if they are to do so the first season by the middle or end of July, and up to that time the treatment indicated should be kept up. By the middle of August, at latest, all efforts at inducing those which have not germinated to do so that season should cease, and more air be admitted, even to the removal of the lights wholly during the day, heavy battering showers only being objectionable, and they must be excluded by all means. Cleanliness and complete freedom from weeds require to be attended to throughout the autumn and winter, and the following March should be begun by the same treatment as has already been detailed. Those seedlings which have started late, and weakly subjects generally, should not be hazarded out in the open borders the first winter. In soils that are liable to much disturbance by frost, and wet soils in particular, they would have but little chance of surviving the ordeal; and even if they cannot be afforded frame accommodation, it would be better, nevertheless, to keep them in their pots, plunging them compactly together in some sheltered handy corner, where their condition and requirements may be taken in at a glance.

In the foregoing details the circumstances of the better-appointed classes of amateur and other small gardens only have been taken into consideration. With humbler appliances, such as hand-glasses, however, the treatment required is the same, the difference being only in the structure. More economy of space and labour will attend the practice of sowing simply in the soil without pots, each sort in a line, or part of a line, by itself; but unless the cultivator, from long experience,

is enabled pretty accurately to sort and sow those kinds together which are likely to germinate within a short time of each other, he will find himself in great embarrassment by-and-by as to how seedlings are to be managed under the close enervating conditions that are most conducive to successful germination. And this process of selection is, moreover, rather too nice a one for even the most experienced to venture on with absolute confidence in all cases. Were we always cognisant of the conditions under which the seeds were harvested and kept since then, and of their age, there would be little difficulty; but this is not always possible. The difference of time between the germination of old and new seeds of the same species in ordinary circumstances amounts to weeks in many cases, so that any sorting or selection that may be attempted is not to be relied upon; and all these contingencies have to be weighed before the less troublesome method of sowing a miscellaneous lot of hardy perennial seeds in a hand-glass, frame, or compartment of a frame, without pots is decided on.

If a mild hotbed can be devoted to the raising of the seeds under glass, it will greatly facilitate progress and the realisation of results. The bottom-heat requisite is

about 65° or 70°, and it should be maintained pretty evenly to something between those figures. The management of the heated frame is precisely the same as that of the close cold frame, but there will be greater watchfulness required on the part of the attendant against sudden risings of temperature from temporary glances of the sun, and more careful airing and shading will be necessary at all times. The seedlings, also, when removed from a heated frame, will require more care in their after-management, if they are to be immediately

put in a cold frame. They will be longer before they can bear the influence of the outer air, and the process of inuring them to it must be more cautiously gone about. If, however, a compartment of the warm frame, or a supplementary heated frame or hand-light, can be devoted to them, there will be less trouble and more advantage every way, for it is doubtful whether the greater risk that is incurred is compensated for by any considerable quickening of the germination, unless it can be followed up by the same stirring treatment throughout the earlier stages of the growth of the seedlings.

There are many gardens that are not provided with glass of any kind to devote to the rearing of hardy perennials, and there are many cottagers and amateurs whose means may not admit of the appliances necessary to carrying out the foregoing details, and in these cases there is no choice but to do the best they can in the open air. It has been already remarked that there is little occasion for hampering ourselves or our means with the more common or less intrinsically valuable of hardy perennials. But with all kinds to which any special value attaches it is necessary to take measures that will insure the greatest amount of success, and for this reason I would advise sowing such in pots, even when they are to be raised in the open air. A well-sheltered spot should be chosen which will enjoy a large amount of sunshine, and a good bed of ashes be made up, somewhat deeper than will be required, for the pots to be plunged in, in order to provide against worms finding an easy entrance into them; and the sides may be kept up by rough boarding, bricks, or anything else more handy that will serve the purpose. The pots may be plunged in this when sown, and some means adopted to provide shading and immu