222 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



and does not see any signs of wealth, only evidences of toil and 

 perhaps a comfortable living, he easily concludes not to serve an 

 apprenticeship at the business in exchange for his present lucrative 

 occupation. 



Some of our horticultural literature of the times is the produc- 

 tion of men who have had very limited experience in practical 

 gardening, but they write well and give the public some useful 

 information. It is not absolutely essential that a man toil him- 

 self, if he has the education and culture, to write vigorous edi- 

 torials on the delightful occupation of horticulture, duly men- 

 tioning the old settlers, Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden, 

 and especially portraying the charms of the modern garden so 

 admirably that many, poorly fitted by nature to make gardens 

 look charming, feel an irresistible desire to engage in such a de- 

 lightful pursuit. The greatest fault of such productions is the 

 rosy tint that is given to every phase of the business. Enthusi- 

 astic converts to the science of horticulture are often men who 

 read and believe more than is profitable, and with heads crammed 

 with the ideal of the same, feel prepared to begin a garden that 

 will rival others from the outset. The choicest fruits, the earliest 

 and best vegetables, the greatest novelties, are all wanted so 

 eagerly that they sometimes become credulous victims of sharp 

 dealers. 



The love of the marvelous often overlooks common practical 

 expedients in horticulture, and to illustrate this I will mention the 

 experiment of two neighb >rs, whose moral ideas had been ele- 

 vated and strengthened by reading "My Summer in a Garden;" 

 those of profit, by " Ten Acres Enough," and seeing some illus- 

 trated advertisements of rare and wonderful fruits, secretly con- 

 cluded each to buy one plant of a famous foreign variety of fruit, 

 which, whatever merit it possessed in its native soil, was worthless 

 here. The price was extravagant, but they reasoned that a gar- 

 den should have the best in the world. Being together one day, 

 one of them, unable longer to hold his secret venture, told his 

 neighbor what he had done, and that after four weeks of the best 

 care, his wonderful plant, to use his expression, " had winked out." 

 Judge of his surprise when told by the other that he had also 



