184 FIVE. ACRES TOO MUCH. 



impossible to have too many of a plant which was 

 &quot;beautiful beyond description,&quot; and the roots of 

 which could &quot; be preserved in sand through the win 

 ter,&quot; and secure a succession of loveliness for years 

 to come. As the foliage expanded and the branches 

 spread, the difference between this plant and the oth 

 ers, its neighbors, became more and more apparent. 

 It was certainly remarkable, and, the ground having 

 been doubly enriched to receive it, it grew amaz 

 ingly. 



Precisely at what point in its existence doubts 

 about Meteloides arose in my mind, I can not say ; 

 and, although they were pooh-poohed and discarded 

 at first, they pressed themselves upon me, and forced 

 me to notice a very strange and unpleasant resem 

 blance. These suspicions grew stronger as the Da 

 turas grew larger, and when the latter began to over 

 shadow all the other flowers, the former became pain 

 fully oppressive. I began to suspect that my new 

 purchase was not all right, and awaited anxiously the 

 appearance of those flowers &quot;eight inches long.&quot; To 

 be sure, it was an immense reassurance to recall the 

 words of the catalogue, and to read over the indorse 

 ment of the seedsmen in the well-known agricultural 

 paper, which was most severe on humbugs ; and I felt 

 that my doubts were so unworthy that I was careful 



