MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 85 
plant growing. The best time to water plants is at sunrise or 
at evening, and use rain water if at hand. My experience 
favors a thorough soaking when dry, as plants slightly watered 
every day often perish. Water may be given at the root at 
any time, but not sprinkled over the leaves in a hot sun, as it 
will blister and spoil the foliage. Cold water, before being 
applied to a heated soil, should be exposed to the sun for a 
few hours. 
INSECTS. 
The green fly is one of the most troublesome insects that 
infest green-houses. Fumigate with tobacco about once a. 
week, either morning or evening, never during the day while 
the sun shines, as it will injure the foliage. | 
Red spider can be avoided. by keeping the house moderately 
damp, but care should be taken not to have it damp enough 
to cause mildew upon the plants or in the house. 
In conclusion, allow me to say that gardening is the most 
ancient of all arts. An occupation so ancient and so full of 
pleasure and profit to man is entitled to respect, and is worthy 
of the devotion of all who have control over even the smallest 
portion of “ mother earth.” 
There is no one, whether it be the merchant absorbed in 
the duties of his office, or the mechanic engaged in his laborious 
art, or the housewife encumbered with domestic cares, who 
would not be better for the change of employment in body 
and mind which an hour or two devoted daily to gardening 
would afford. Flowers are nature’s holiday garb, and to all 
lovers of nature and art have become an indispensable luxury. 
In the cultivation of flowers each one can indulge their 
peculiar fancy, and each one’s character will represent itself 
in the taste indulged. The motives for the cultivation of 
flowers are as various as the tastes of mankind. They are the 
simplest and least expensive ornaments of the homestead, 
imparting an air of taste and comfort and awakening dreams 
of beauty, especially in the minds of children, that will never 
fade from memory. 
Flowers abundantly compensate those who cultivate them 
by the associations to which they conduce. They are social- 
izing in their tendency. The flower garden diffuses pleasure 
beyond its own precincts, and gladdens other hearts than 
those of its possessor. 
*‘ Bright gems of earth, in which perchance we see 
What Eden was, what Paradise may be.” 
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