How to manage a Garden 



extermination of these pests often requires a large expendi- 

 ture in time, money, and plant energy. Even if already 

 you are troubled with the same undesirable foes, there is 

 surely no reason why you should increase the stock. This 

 is one of the chief dangers of what we might term jumble 

 sales. Only too often we find that sales include a variety 

 of stuff which could not be disposed of in the orthodox 

 way ; which is the remains of a large stock from which the 

 best has been scrupulously selected. True, the price is 

 low, but a worthless plant is dear at any price. I do not 

 wish to urge readers to keep away from sales altogether, 

 but I certainly advise them to buy cautiously, and if they 

 know nothing as to the value of a plant, to take some one 

 with them who does. 



In buying stuff from established "seedsmen there is much 

 less fear of being " done," for it may be said with pride that 

 by far the large majority of our horticultural firms carry on 

 their business in an irreproachable manner. They usually 

 try to give every satisfaction to their customers, for they are 

 fully aware that their own interest is indissolubly bound up 

 therein. Nor is the price paid for things always a safe 

 criterion of value. By paying a large price it often happens 

 that we are really paying for a careful method of selection, 

 and the additional cost cannot then be reasonably be- 

 grudged. A low price is not always a criterion of 

 cheapness, nor is a high price always one of quality. 

 The best school in this case is perhaps the old one of 

 experience. 



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