CHAPTER TWO 



WINTER VIOLETS 



To the majority, violet culture on the prac- 

 tical farm may seem an incongruity; but, in 

 our vicinity, custom has removed the stigma 

 of oddity, commercial enterprise being equally 

 divided between dairy farming and hot-house 

 floriculture the latter industry having grad- 

 ually spread from its original village bound- 

 aries to the outlying farms, until conservatories 

 in close proximity to old-fashioned barns ex- 

 cite no comment. 



Of course such a fascinating occupation 

 would have been seized upon at once as the 

 most congenial means of supplementing our 

 income, had not the exchequer vetoed funda- 

 mental outlay; but as it did, most emphatic- 

 ally, we had to turn our commercial thoughts 



in other directions, and restrict our floral am- 



23 



