1 66 GARDEN I XG B V AI YSELF. 



the stove's fierce heat. When did any one 

 of them have fresh earth ? Not within the 

 memory of the oldest inhabitant of that 

 flower stand ! 



But among all this varied assortment, how 

 rarely do you find anything like a bulb. 

 Callas are there sometimes, — now and then 

 a stray amaryllis ; but tulips and hyacinths 

 almost never. No gentle snowdrop, indoors 

 or out, to ring in the spring with its green- 

 tipped bells; no gay little crocus, nor grace- 

 ful scilla, nor tall polyanthus narcissus. 

 To all of these I want to call your attention. 

 And the fall is their planting time. 



Not quite yet, of course, — even when 

 August has given the last one of her beau- 

 tiful days, it is still too soon. I am not 

 going to talk of the planting just now, but 

 only of the choosing and buying. 



Bulbs are not dear, to begin with. Of 

 course you can find lilies for five dollars a- 

 piece, and expensive novelties of all sorts ; 

 but tulips in general range from ten to thir- 

 ty cents apiece ; hyacinths, from twenty- 



