234 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



The purchaser of flowers in our markets must have his 

 plants in bloom, because he has been at times so swindled 

 that he must now see what he buys. In New York, the 

 amateur rarely buys from the grower, but from the agent 

 or middleman who sells in the market stands or street 

 corners. These, whether men or women, are generally 

 entirely ignorant of the nature of plants, and most of 

 them have no responsibility, and they rarely fail to make 

 their wares accord with the wants of the purchaser: nearly 

 every plant is hardy, ever-blooming, and has all the 

 qualities desired by the buyer. 



But now and then these swindles become a serious 

 matter to the victim. Some years ago a typical English- 

 man, who had been a green grocer in Covent Garden 

 Market, London, found his way to New York. He at 

 once discovered an almost entire absence of Cauliflowers 

 in our markets, and what few there were, were sold at 

 prices four times those of London. He soon made up 

 his mind to make his fortune, and, at the same time, 

 show the Yankees something they did not know. He 

 duly selected and prepared the ground for an acre, and 

 one day in May he sallied into the market to procure his 

 Cauliflower plants. This he found no difficulty in doing, 

 for at Dutch Peggy's (in those days the headquarters for 

 all kinds of herbs, plants, and seeds) they were to be seen 

 by the wagon load. Ten thousand were procured, the 

 quantity for his acre, and, duly planted, they began to 

 grow apace. He had planted the ist of May. If it had 

 been in England, his Cauliflower heads would have 

 been ready about the ist of July, but something was 

 evidently wrong in the Yankee climate. His Cauli- 

 flowers grew through June, through July into August, 

 only to develop into fine specimens of Drumhead Cab- 

 bage, then of hardly the value he had paid for them as 



