Purchasing Stock 



Useful Friendships. 



Another useful way of working up a stock is to cultivate 

 the acquaintance of professional gardeners, and men of a 

 kindred spirit, by which means many plants, cuttings, &c., 

 may be obtained which would otherwise be thrown away. 

 Only those acquainted with the workings of a large estab- 

 lishment can understand the amount of stuff wasted, which 

 would prove a real boon to amateur growers. For an 

 instance may be quoted strawberry plants. Yearly many 

 hundreds of these are forced in pots, and when the fruit 

 has been plucked are thrown away. Now in spite of what 

 people who have never tried the experiment may say as to 

 its futility, I am prepared to state from experience that if 

 these plants have not been submitted to very hard forcing, 

 they will, on being planted out, and well cared for, provide 

 very useful material for fruit, or for increasing by means of 

 runners. In many cases they could be had for the asking, 

 although there are undoubtedly some morally constructed 

 men with iron bound consciences who consider it their duty 

 to consign these valuable masses of plant life to oblivion 

 rather than help a fellow-man in his striving after gardening 

 pleasure. These, however, are in the minority. May their 

 number continue to decrease. 



Apart from the advantages in kind which are likely to 

 accrue from an acquaintance with professional gardeners, 

 there is also much to be learnt from them as to practical 

 culture, and also how to work up a stock in the shortest 

 possible time from a given number of plants, cuttings, &c., 

 where to go for the best plants, bulbs, seeds, trees, &c., and 

 much other information which is not by any means to be 

 despised. 



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