Suburban Home Grounds. 115 



CHAPTER XIII. 



You have heard it said (and I believe there is 

 more than fancy in that saying, but let it pass 

 for a fanciful one) that flowers only flourish in 

 the garden of some one who loves them. — 

 — John Ruskin. 



LOWERS — a bountiful bloom — is the desire of many 

 lovers of the beautiful, and not the fruit which is 

 the product that comes after the flowers. Nature 

 : has many ways of perpetuating its kind and the flower 

 of the plant is one method with the rich color, the delicate 

 fragrance, and the sweet nectar as its attraction. Birds, bees, 

 animals, as well as man are attracted, and assist in the fer- 

 tilization and distribution of the seeds and plants. There 

 is a reason for all these tilings that can be found out by study; 

 the main one is fruit, seed and the continuing hfe. Man, on 

 account of Ms love for the beautiful, has emphasized the 

 flower part of the plant to. such an extent that the fruit is 

 is overlooked except where there is a commercial value. Nature 

 acts otherwise and knows no law of dollars and cents, only 

 that the next generation of plants may be given hfe after 

 the death of itself. 



Thus we have a wide range of flowers from which to choose 

 that have been gathered from all quarters of the globe. Navi- 

 gators, botanists, travellers, and scientists have JDeen attracted 

 by the flowers and have gathered the best to send back to 

 their home land. These gleanings have been carefufly propagated 

 and acclimatized by skilful and patient gardeners with the 

 result that to-day many flowers that are common to us are 



