THE GARDEN 



number of inferior ones. It is much better to 

 concentrate your attention than to scatter it 

 over so wide a field that justice cannot be done 

 to the occupants of it. 



I am well aware that the impression prevails 

 among many amateur gardeners that by sow- 

 ing seed early in the season, in the house, it is 

 possible to secure a much earlier crop of flowers 

 than can be obtained from plants grown wholly 

 in the garden. The theory of this belief is 

 good, but the test of it Will convince anyone 

 that there is a wide difference between the 

 theory and the successful practice of it. 

 Ninety-nine times out of a hundred plants 

 grown from early-sown seed will die before the 

 time comes when it is safe to put them out-of- 

 doors, and the one possible exception will be so 

 lacking in vitality that plants from seed sown 

 in the garden after the weather becomes warm 

 will get ahead of it, if it happen to survive the 

 ordeal of the change from the house to the 

 ground, which it seldom will. In our over- 

 heated living-rooms, with their fluctuating 

 temperatures, it is almost an impossibility to 

 grow good plants of any kind, and especially 

 seedlings. They are too delicate to withstand 

 the difficulties to which they are subjected. 



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