SEEDS AND THE DEVIL. 229 



&quot; I can only say, then, that he had no right to take 

 upon himself the honors of authorship ; there is no 

 justification for his assuming the place of instructor 

 when he was merely a self-seeker. His book, then, is 

 simply an advertisement.&quot; 



&quot; Call it w T hat you please, but do not get excited. 

 Borrow his catalogues, which contain much useful 

 information, and for which he charges nothing, but 

 do not abuse a hard-working man, striving to get 

 ahead in the w r orld.&quot; 



&quot; Very well, then. To come back to my difficulties 

 I want to know when I am to gather the seeds ; they 

 only ripen in small quantities, and, if left, are scat 

 tered and lost.&quot; 



&quot; Oh, you must watch your chance ; stick to it ; 

 i here a little, and there a little ; do not be impa 

 tient.&quot; 



&quot; The pods of phlox burst the moment they turn 

 yellow, and, ere I notice them among the mass of 

 those still green, they have spilled their contents ; the 

 gilia are so small that I can not find them at all ; the 

 mignonnette really does not seem to bear seed ; and 

 the capsules of the portulaca have to be picked one 

 at a time, and are so low that it almost breaks my 

 back to bend down to them. How is it that you 

 manage ?&quot; 



