16 State Horticultural Society. 



eler who found a single flower blooming in the wild desert over which he 

 was passing cried out, 'I will not give up but struggle on, for God is 

 here.' So, my horticultural friends, we need not give up for God is 

 here — not a single flower, but in thousands of them, shedding their fra- 

 grance for our pleasure. And with all our losses let us remember that 

 we have much left, for which we should be truly grateful. Let us take 

 courage and push boldly forward in our work, remembering that if we 

 are true and faithful to our trust then our present weary march through 

 the deep valley with its overhanging clouds will only add enchanting 

 beauty to the glorious view we shall have from the mountain top of suc- 

 cess and final victory in the future." 



Song. — Peirce City Male Quartette. 



Recitation, — Miss Mona Coppock. 



CULTIVATIOIST OF FLOWERS. 



Mrs. E. L. Parker, Peirce City, Mo. 



I believe the cultivation of flowers was allotted to me. As for 

 myself, I have no excuse to make; by the time I am through the trouble 

 will be plain enough. But I feel sure the Horticultural Society here 

 was not aware this would be my first effort in this line, since a girl of 

 ten, when I wrote an essay on flowers. It commenced about like this, 

 "There are many kinds of flowers," I have since learned there is a gTeat 

 deal in the cultivation to have any success with them. I am glad they 

 have given me as much latitude as a Southwest Missouri preacher, if not 

 from Genesis to Revelation. I can take from asters to zinnias and branch 

 off on bulbs as a side issue. 



But to begin. If you are really in earnest about raising some fine 

 floral specimens, the best time to start is in the fall. Select some corner 

 where you can have all the leaves and clippings from the yard wheeled, 

 add any and everything that will decay; rotten chips and dirt from the 

 woodpile, sand, a little ashes, the more soapsuds the better, all the coffee 

 and tea grounds you can get, with a layer of earth every once and a 

 while and when well rotted work it all over. By the time your seeds 



