52 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



but care must be taken never to raise a window upon your plants in cold weatber, 

 a draufrht of air is a irreat injury to tbem. 



I bave treated at length of llowers as au indoor acconipaninieut. We bave our 

 flower gardens as an outside accompaniment, and flowers of an almost infinite 

 variety. And is it not less wonderful that their regular succession equally dis- 

 plays the wisdom and benevolence of tiie Creator? Had tliere been exact and 

 unvarynig uniformity in forms, color and fragrance of llowers, we sliould soon 

 have been tired of such dull monotonous uniformity. Should the summer only 

 reproduce the flowers which adorn the spring, we should not only be weary of 

 contemplating tiiem, but we should be much inclined to neglect and not bestow 

 that care upon them which their successful cultivation rc([uircs. If contrary 

 to the analogy of nature, uniformity, fixed and unvarying, had been the law of 

 the floral kingdom, it bad not displaj^ed such countless beauties, and reflected 

 everywhere, the glory of divine ])orfection, in such dazzling radiance as it now 

 does. In no country is the cultivation of flowers making such wonderful pro- 

 gress as ours. Much can be done to make home happy and cheerful, all 

 through the season, especially if our home yard furnishes an abundance of 

 flowers for floral decorations. 



The first thing in home adornment connected with tlie flower garden (if it 

 be properly drained) is laying out our grounds. This, however, is only a mat- 

 ter of taste. Much might be said, and many suggestions made on this subject, 

 but for want of time I leave it. Next in importance, the soil must be good 

 and well prepared for germination. The earth should be rich, mellow, and free 

 from lumps. Different soil will produce different grades of the same family, 

 for instance, dahlias that we put out last season in a clay subsoil covered with 

 sand grew to be over seven feet tall, tlie stalks large, with an abundance of 

 foliage. The flowers were small and long nuituring, while tuliers of the same 

 were put into a gravelly loam grew two feet, and were literally covered with 

 blossoms that were large, compact, and models of perfection. 



Sow good seed, and those that will afford bloom the entire season. Our 

 home garden is a plot of ground, clay subsoil, that had been plowed ten inches 

 deep and seeded down, having a good turf. It was then covered eighteen inches 

 with a clay subsoil scraped from a cellar, this covered with muck from low 

 swamp land, and the whole covered with sand about six inches, and has an 

 under drain, and on this we make almost every floral variety grow with scarcely 

 any other fertilizer. Some tliink shrubs an injury to a home garden, but we 

 spare the shrubs, tliey lend fragrance to the breeze and beauty to the garden, 

 and they afford shelter for the small plants from the scorching rays of the mid- 

 summer sum. A few is all that is required : it would be folly to make a nur- 

 sery of our flower garden. Tiiere is no business or profession that requires 

 more skill than growing choice seeds or cuttings. There is a constant tendency 

 to degenerate. This should be guarded against. Single or poor flowers pro- 

 duce tlie best seed. Scarcely are our winter frosts gone before the crocus puts 

 forth its buds and blossoms. Then follow in close succession the tulip, the 

 hyacinth, and violet, wich all their beauty and fragrance. Then our annuals, 

 of which verbena, dianthus, abronia, etc., with the beautiful })ansy are ex- 

 amples. These last should be grown in the shade. Then ])hlox drummondi, 

 positively nnequaled by anytiiing with which I am acquainted, yet compara- 

 tively little known or appreciated. Generally showy plants are not delicate, but 

 the phlox is both showy and delicate. It presents innumerable combinations of 

 color, every shade as the groundwork of the petals, and every color and union 



