550 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



soil, air, light, lieat, etc. — -that must be complied with, 

 and, in order to know what these are witli different varie- 

 ties, one must have experience — for I have found that no 

 common amount of reading wdll save all your plants, for 

 this reason : means that would w^ork like a charm in 

 the hands of a good florist, would, in many cases, 

 prove utter failures with the inexperienced or amateurs. 



For tliis reason, I feel my inability to do this subject 

 justice, but, if what I have learned in the short time I have 

 been experimenting will be the means of saving some one's 

 beauties to them, I shall be glad, for I know how hard it is 

 to get a nice plaAt and just begin to enjoy it and the pros- 

 pect of what it will be, and tlien have it droop and die, 

 while you are totally ignorant of what to do to save it. 

 But still I do not know but a small amount of this disap- 

 pointment is necessary to stimulate one to try and study 

 into their wants and necessities. 



To commence with, I made geraniums almost a spe- 

 cialty, having some one hundred different varieties. ^ I 

 chose these on account of their general hardiness and 

 ease of culture, and, by getting the very dwarf varieties, I 

 could not only accommodate them better in the windows, 

 but found them more abundant blossoiners, and also hav- 

 ing larger, fairer blossoms than the tall-growing ones — 

 and here I would say that many of my acquaintances would 

 hear of the numbeo* I had and come to see them, expecting, 

 of course, that they must about fill the house, and I could see, 

 at once, their disappointment at the show they did not 

 make. Nevertheless, I consider them far superior for 



