Adaptations in ITohticulture. 79 



The lack of some one point, which may not seem important at 

 the time, may seriously affect the result. There are places in his 

 own garden where he would not think of setting a strawberry bed ; 

 others where he would not plant potatoes, and so in regard to most 

 every crop, there are conditions, even in narrow limits, which we 

 must consider if we would raise them with the best success. No 

 definite law or statement can be laid down in books in regard to 

 these conditions, except in a general way. It must be left, in a 

 great measure, to the experience, the judgment, of the cultivator 

 himself. 



Mr. Randall remarked that there seemed to be a sort of magnet- 

 ism, a charm about some persons that made everything they set out 

 live and do well, no matter how hurriedly and carelessly it was 

 donC; while others might take all the pains in the world, tend to 

 them faithfully, and yet the plants would not thrive. The remark 

 was frequently heard that whatever such a one touches lives, no 

 matter how he or she handles it, but whatever this or that one has 

 anything to do with, will surely die. As an instance to the point, 

 he stated that in his own garden they had ripe tomatoes the first 

 of July, while his neighbor, who had given more care and where 

 all the conditions seemed equally favorable, had not a plant in 

 bloom even. 



Mr. ^Yood said there seemed to be some truth in this, if we 

 judge by what we see. Some say it can be explained by a love 

 for plants and flowers which gives those who possess it a special 

 fitness for the work, a sort of instinct that guides them in their 

 care, but this cannot be all, for we see some who have such a love 

 for plants and flowers as to lead them to persist in their efforts to 

 raise them after repeated failures; they seem to labor as earnestly 

 and as intelligently, yet they do not succeed. lie is inclined to 

 believe that the difference in the results is to be attributed largely, 

 if not wholly, to a better understanding of what the plants really 

 need, and better judgment in the care, in the one than in the 

 other, as in parents' love for their children, in some cases it leads 

 them to do what is for the best good of the child, in others 

 not. It is not in the amount of love, but in the manner of 

 expressing it. 



