246 ANNUAL REPORT 



judgment, for any amateur to make it a rule to raise his own seeds. 

 First of all, the virtue or strength which is taken up in the forma- 

 tion of a seed pod deprives tbe amateur of many a blossom and 

 draws strength from the whole plant. Make it a rule to cut all 

 flowers freely. The more generously you cut (mind I don't say 

 pick, but cut) the more blossoms you will have. I never allow 

 persons to pick flowers with the hand unless it be a few with 

 brittle stems, which snap off short like nasturtiums or possibly 

 pansies, but always insist on having them cut w T ith scissors or 

 knife. The more generously you cut your flowers, the more gen- 

 erously will nature reward you with an abundance of bloom. The 

 person who does not cut and give away generously, pays the 

 penalty himself by allowing seeds to form and thereby reducing 

 the number of blossoms. Again, as to seeds. The science of seed 

 raising is made a specialty by persons who thoroughly understand 

 it and grow them under the right conditions, as our friend Toole, 

 who gave the valuable paper this morning on pansy culture, and 

 it is foolish for the amateur to risk the results of his next season's 

 gardening, either as to quality or variety, on tbe few seeds he 

 saves. And not only this ; even if his self raised seeds do germi- 

 nate, he fails to get the new varieties and the new shades and 

 colorings which are produced from year to year, by professional 

 seed growers. A person had better buy fresh seeds each year 

 from a reliable source, or quit growing flowers. There may be an 

 occasional exception to this rule, but let it be occasional. In 

 flower growing as in other matters nowadays, let us remember that 

 specialists are at work at all times developing, hybridizing and 

 improving the old, and introducing tbe new varieties. Let us take 

 advantage of their investigations and buy each year the best seeds 

 and thereby get tbe best results in our own gardens. 



President Elliot. Fellow Members, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

 We have with us this evening one whom I know you would like to 

 hear from, who can give us some good ideas. I have the pleasure 

 of introducing to you Miss Maria L. Sanford of the State Uni- 

 versity. 



HOKTICULTUKAL AND HOME. 

 By Prof. Maria L. Sanford. 



Friends, I noticed on the program that I was advertised to give 

 an address, I did not come out here to give an address, I did not 

 come to give a lecture, or to make a speech; I came to tell some of 

 our friends around here who have been interesting themselves so 

 much to bring flowers and fruits into our homes, how glad and 

 how thankful I am for their work. As I listened to this very in- 

 teresting paper which has just been presented and pictured to my- 

 self the house surrounded by fruits and fljwers, I compare that 



