Dlcejibkk 13, 1000. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



63 



close material and 

 year. It needs sli 

 Perliaps after .t tiiii 

 fied to have Ihr •ji:i 



iuv}vnuui Ml ,11 ,r,,,H.-,„.-. «..i'ikl bo 



:l tn l,;nr II -M 



II l'"H -I l.iHii IK) one is allowed to do 



s.iJJiii- Ml |il,iii( anything on the lot 

 t wdiil.l ,li~liirh the sod, lint they 

 e yiven permission of late to cover 



graves with vinea where desired. 



the Horist is allowed to do is l.i put 

 11 or wooden vases on the lot, lillcd 

 h flowers. Neither are there any 

 ces. If suiting the general ell'eet of 



lawn a tree may be on your lot, but 

 I i- iiiii A ^liihilil.' |il.i, .■ tlii'i r i- none 

 nu'.l. I hi- iii:u MMiii I,, - „i. ,, little 

 ill:. IV. Iml llirir I- iiM , I,, I, III ,1 ,. the 

 il way l.i ...ii.lihl .. .viii.l.iy. I do 



know of any material except the 

 2;lish ivy, where hardy, and the Vinea 

 lor. with us so good for the purpose of 



SPEAKING OF RATS, OR THE SET- 

 TLERS OF CANADA. 



Three youMi; men willi \ii\ limited 

 capital and an iMpuil aiii..unl ..t .'xpe- 



minds that Nvoikiiij; f.u'.kLily wai;.- was 

 lieneatli tlicir ability ami amliiti.ins. So 



a half, more or le^s, a day, the third 

 and youngest started on a tour of inspec- 

 tion, and location, and after a week of 

 silence came the joyful news: "Have 

 located in Stratford, Ontario. Fine 

 opening for seed store and greenhouse. 

 Business will at start hardly warrant 

 more than one of you coming on at once. 

 The other can come later." As the busi- 

 ness and plant consisted of a one-story 

 frame shanty about 12x20, with a parti- 

 tion at the rear mak' 

 without a speck of fu 

 even plaster on the w 

 could hardly be ex pec 



ird descriptive of this thriv- [ done. We always had time to li.^ten if 



ing little city in the splendid agriei 

 tural peninsula of Ontario. Stratford 

 1869 was much smaller than it is now. 

 Through it meandered the Kiver Avon 

 and its wards w^re named Romeo, Juliet, 

 Othello, Falslair, etc. But there were 

 lofs of pcph' ill h »li.. u.rc unaware 

 that 111,- iinin..il,.l William had ever 

 lived. '111. |.i.'\ailiiij iiali..iialitv was 

 Scotch and Kii-li-h. Ihcrc was a lib- 

 eral allowance of ministers of the gospel 

 and most every denomination was repre- 



,e could got a farmer to tell us of his 

 early life and hardships in the woods. 

 .Many a one told us that after paying a 

 trille for their land, and perhaps a yoke 

 of oxen and some scant furniture,! hey had 

 absolutely not a penny left; oidy their 

 pluck and strength to face the wilder- 

 ness. Walking twenty miles through 

 the woods with their lirst bag of wheat 

 to the gri.st mill, returning with their 

 Hour and being overtaken by night a few 

 miles from home. Leaning against a 



Bedding in a Kansas City Park. 



But they were pillars nl ili' .liin.li an. I 

 pillars of society, and tli. u.!--i|i .i tin' 

 idle people disturbed la.l tli.n |...i.c. 

 There were very few lri:>li folks, only 

 one or two colored gentlemen, and so 

 few Germans that the odd one or two 

 made them quite intercstins to u-^ 

 ■■-ivcnlcni^.- Williiii a f.' 



Stand in a Kansas City Park. 



tree for r> st they halloed loud and long, 

 an.l ^\'.■ll' fortunate if answered by their 

 ijiihtiil .l:i'4 at home, for that gave them 

 III. II III.. I i. in for another few yards of 



\liii.i-i I ,. .i\ a task as that of the 

 iiiijl I .. \ I III with Marius on his 

 i.a.' i I' ii-h the labyrinth of 



iiii.l.ip, Ill IViii-. Remember, young 



man, your education is very incomplete 

 if you have not read Victor Hugo's im- 

 mortal work. Many of these weather- 

 beaten but now prosperous farmers were 

 not farmers at all when they crossed the 

 .Atlantic. They were Glasgow weavers. 

 But they were Scotch and that blood has 

 .•..ii.|iicii il the wilderness in every clime. 

 \ 1.1.1 1 1. I I if the great African explorer, 

 111 l):i\i.l Livingston, was one of the 

 .Mil\ >. •(tiers a few miles from Strat- 

 ford. With eager ears and keen enjoy- 

 ment we listened to these stories of the 

 lives of the early settlers. It was to me 

 sweeter far than the strains of Sousa's 

 band or the warbling of Patti. 



We rented two acres of excellent land 

 from the Episcopal minister, and he was 

 typical of the clas> in llii- ..nintry. 

 Well brought up, i;.. .1 1 nkinj aianly, 

 liked his glass of ale an I ij.i \.iy re- 

 spectable and poor. A Iri.nl ..f mine 

 says he likes the Episcopal .Iciiumina- 

 tion best of all because they never bother 

 with religion or politico. The land was 

 plowed and sown and planted with crops 

 that we thought would yield us the great- 

 est revenue. Unfortunately, the land 

 was in sod, and however good that is for 

 corn and potatoes it is not best for 

 onions and root crops. Our first crop to 

 market was peas, McLean's Advancer. 

 It was probably the first time such a 

 superior pea had advanced inland. The 

 third and oldest member of the firm had 

 long before this joined the firm. 



Seeds had been imported from '"hold 

 Lunnen" and New York and we did a 

 fair business in seeds during April and 

 May, but the seed business don't last 

 loijg. Then a 'I'.ii ..nto plant grower owed 

 one .il 111. |Miii!ii- over a hundred dol- 

 lars in \\i- - lliat was all taken up 

 in plaiils, ami as there was no florist in 

 Stratford in those days they went ofT 

 well. Still the income was precarious, 

 and although three young men never 



