254 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



and why, which is in itself a distinct gain. It is a 

 good rule never to take the advice of an unsuccessful 

 person, no matter how reasonable it sounds. Distrust 

 garrulous advice; the gardener with real knowledge 

 is not inclined to force advice upon others. 



Don't be cast down by adverse criticism unless 

 your judgment tells you it is deserved. The person 

 who "knows it all" is never so much at home as in 

 some one else's flower-garden, where the principal 

 labour may be done with the tongue. 



Don't be wheedled into spoiling your plants by 

 saving seed for one who is perfectly able to buy; in- 

 stead, give the address of the dealer from whom you 

 purchased, and suggest that he will be glad to fill 

 orders. Don't rob your plant of cuttings that are 

 necessary to its symmetry; this, too, is a case for the 

 florist. There are people who seem to feel it an in- 

 justice for any one to possess a plant with more than 

 one branch so long as they are not supplied with that 

 particular variety. 



Don't, when you have purchased a dozen Violets 

 or Primulas, meaning to divide them after awhile to 

 make the border you did not feel like purchasing out- 

 right, be imposed upon to the extent of giving half 

 of them away to some one who has been waiting for 

 this very opportunity. The experienced gardener 

 learns to steer such people away from plants she does 

 not wish to part with, or have mutilated, but the 

 amateur is looked upon as legitimate prey. I have 



