6 FIVE minutes' advice to a young florist. 



seize every opportunity of beholding, all the collections of florists' 

 flowers within your reach : and now you have come to the determi- 

 nation of cultivating a collection for your own pleasure and amuse- 

 ment. Allow me to congratulate you on your praiseworthy deter- 

 mination : it will afford you that pleasure which you may in vain 

 look for elsewhere ; and amusement at once rational and innocent, 

 and admirably calculated to promote both your health of body and 

 peace of mind. 



You have seen the splendid productions of several growers and 

 amateurs, and you are, perhaps, thinking : " Why may not I succeed 

 in raising good and splendid flowers as well as others? " Why not 

 indeed ! It is not only possible, but highly probable, providing you 

 take the same pains, and use the same means as they have done. 

 But let me beg of you never to lose sight of the old hacknied 

 proverb, " No gains without pains," for it is absolutely worth its 

 weight in gold. However I advise you not to be too sanguine in 

 your expectations ; you will probably have many disappointments ; 

 and sometimes, perhaps, when you fancy you have gained your point, 

 and raised something very splendid, you will have the mortification 

 to find it condemned by some one who knows better than yourself 

 the merits of a first-rate flower. You must, therefore, make up your 

 mind to be patient under such circumstances, and try your luck 

 again ; for you must always remember, that it is not merely raising 

 a pretty good flower that will gain you celebrity ; but it must be 

 fully as good, or rather better, than any other in the same class, 

 otherwise it is not worth keeping. However, should you meet with 

 such disappointments, be not dismayed, nor give up in despair ; re- 

 member, your motto ought to be Persevere, and it is your duty to 

 proceed, till you succeed. When this is once the case, you will want 

 no other spur to urge you forward. 



I remember when I first began to cultivate flowers, I thought 

 within myself — I will have at the outset a small, but first-rate col- 

 lection. Hence I went to the different shows in the vicinity, for the 

 purpose of choosing a stock ; and whatever struck my fancy, if it 

 came within my slender means, I did not fail to purchase it ; fondly 

 calculating, that every such purchase would be a valuable acquisition 

 to my stock. But, alas ! in this I was miserably disappointed ; for 

 in numerous instances, owing perhaps to different soil andsituation — 



