A FLOWER HOBBY 229 



money has got more real enjoyment out of this sort 

 of specializing than some Lancashire weaver with 

 his auriculas the pride of what little time he could 

 call his own. He knows well enough that so far as 

 the sheer pleasure of playing for "points" is con- 

 cerned, his "bob" is quite as good a coin as his rich 

 neighbor's "quid." 



An American prototype of the Lancashire weav- 

 er, in spirit, is a hard-working young business man. 

 He happens to have a special liking for China 

 asters ; so, while he grows other flowers, he makes 

 a hobby of his favorite one. The result is a really 

 absorbing outdoor interest from May all through 

 the summer a little while in the morning and a 

 little while in the evening, on week days, he potters 

 with his China asters and on Sundays he studies his 

 crop at leisure. He would not miss the little money 

 that he expends for seed, but, as a matter of fact, he 

 comes out with a profit. Living as he does, in the 

 suburbs of the city of moderate size in which he is 

 employed, he is able to sell to a florist at a fair price 

 all the cut blooms that he cares to bring to town on 

 summer mornings. 



China asters, of course, are a case of making a 

 hobby of a single species or, more strictly, a glori- 

 fied species, the form as developed through cultiva- 

 tion being known botanically as Callistephus hor- 

 tensis. It is a hobby that may be tolerably expensive 

 if one cares to ride it to the limit. This is because 

 there are so many strains, each with its several col- 

 or divisions. The assortment offered in three 



