76 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



think, better to can with sweet corn. We had very poor success with 

 all the reds; they need frequent pinching b«ck which ours did not get, 

 and consequently they ran rampant to vines. Of the so-called "tree 

 tomato," we will have none of them and do not think them worthy of 

 the space they occupy. 



Potatoes (Irish and why?) — Planted the Early Ohio and Snowflake; 

 ■commenced to use them early in July. They were dead ripe in August 

 and were harvested in that month, placed in a dry cellar in a heap 

 about twelve inches deep, were put into barrels in October, and they 

 are at this present writing (Nov. 22) in good condition, and no doubt 

 will keep until consumed. A few were blotched with rotten spots, 

 barely enough to mention the fact. 



I cultivated some other vegetables in small quantities, but observed 

 no facts worthy to bring to your notice. 



And now, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I will detain you, 

 may I say entertain you, but a few minutes longer while I give you a 

 few notes and observations on flowers. Before I do so, let me quote 

 from our own Bryant once more, simply because we at Kirkwood were 

 favored on December 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, 1888, by that " one rich 

 smile " which that genial poet craves in his poem entitled •' November:" 



"Yet one smile more, departing, distant sun! 



One mellow smile through the soft vapory air, 

 Ere, o'er the fror.en earth, the loud winds run 



Or snows are sifted o'er the meadows bare ; 

 One smile on the brown hills and naked trees, 



And the dark rocks whose summer wreathes are cast, 

 And the blue gentian flower, that in the breeze 



Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last. 

 Yet a few sunny days, in which the bee 



Shall murmur by the hedge that skirts the way, 

 The cricket chirp upon the russet lea, 



And man delight to linger in thy ray. 

 Y^et one aich smile, and we will try to bear 

 The piercing winter frost, and winds and darkened air." 



In the most protected spot, on the north side of an Osage orange 

 hedge, we have a wild garden which affords us a great deal of enjoy- 

 ment and pleasure. It is called wild because seemingly neglected, and 

 also because none but so-called wild flowers and ferns grow there. Some 

 of these are in bloom from the earliest opening of spring and away into 

 autumn, when the lobilia cardlnalis, with its incomparable flame-like 

 color, closes the season. 



We have a bulb bed also, not extensive but sufficiently so as to 

 afford a border of crocus of various colors, and snowdrops also. In 

 the center we have three or four Crown Imperials, and between the 



