Rural School Leaflet 107 i 



Canterbury bells, peonies, violets, pansies, English daisies, baby's-breath, 

 hollyhocks, petunias, and a host more. Do not fail to see every garden, 

 so that next fall you will know a good many plants from which to make 

 a first choice when you start your permanent work at home or at school. 



There are a great many flowers on the list that you will not find, but 

 you may be interested in looking them u]3 in one of the well-illustrated 

 seed catalogues. Some of these flowers grew in our grandmothers' gardens, 

 and perhaps in the future we may revive an interest in them. 



Many boys and girls will grow the flowers listed on pages 1073 and 

 1074, seeds of which can be bought for two cents a packet; but others 

 may want to try other kinds, and if so, reliable seed houses will sell the 

 seed according to the space you wish to plant, and the catalogues will 

 give prices. 



In growing flowers keep in mind the following points: 



1. Plan to grow flowers in a border along a fence, a building, or where 

 there will be shrubbery in the background. Do not make a flower bed in 

 the middle of a lawn. Read what Dr. Bailey says on page 1072 about 

 the defects in flower growing. 



2. Use good garden soil for your flower gardens. Learn from your 

 father what this means. Handle good garden soil. Leani how to get 

 the right quality of soil in your garden. Perhaps one of the farmers in 

 the neighborhood who is successful in gardening will talk to your school 

 some Friday afternoon about soils for a garden, and let you see samples 

 of different kinds of soils so that you may become skillful in recognizing 

 good quality. A trip with your teacher to some garden that is thrifty 

 will be of value. Plants need suitable soil if they are to be strong and 

 productive. 



The best soil for growing flowers is a light loam, a soil about three-fourths 

 of which is sand and the rest clay, silt, and decayed organic matter. The 

 term organic is used in connection with forms that have, or have had, 

 life, and should be distinguished from inorganic as applied to substances 

 that have no life, such as stone, metal, sand, and the like. The gardener's 

 way of adding organic matter to the soil is by means of manure, which, if 

 applied directly before the flowers are planted, should be well rotted. 

 Your father will tell you how much to apply and how to work it into the 

 soil. 



3. Many flower seeds are very small. Be careful not to plant them too 

 deep. See page 1064. 



Let every one make an experiment in growing flowers. Do not try to 

 do much this year, for we want you to give your best attention to the 

 vegetable garden; but there will be time for a little work toward flower 

 culture in the future. 



