IN THE FRONT YARD. 103 



following manner : Along in the 80's I was connected 

 with Franklin Academy, in western ISTebraska, lying 

 under the lOOtli meridian. This was a difficult place 

 in which to raise choice flowers. I had a quantity of 

 Madam Plantier, wliich are white roses. They suf- 

 fered much, and killed back with the winter drouth, and 

 then by no device could I propagate them. They would 

 not root from layers. Again, they would bloom about 

 two weeks before commencement, to the disappoint- 

 ment of the girls, who wanted white roses and plenty 

 of them for that day. So I put all these things to- 

 gether and sought a solution of the difficulty, and found 

 it. In the fall the bushes had made a splendid growth. 

 I must save them from winter killing. I Avanted to 

 propagate them, and also retard their blooming for two 

 wrecks. I laid, the bushes on the ground like the spokes 

 of a wheel, and put posts on them to hold them in 

 place. The soil was rich and mellow. I put on six 

 inches over the whole and did not allow^ a single bud 

 or tAvig to show^ itself. The earth was not taken off in 

 the spring. There lay the tw^igs uninjured by winter. 

 I watched that not a branch or bud should be exposed. 

 They were compelled to come up through the 'ground, 

 and they did, great masses of them. Of course those 

 twigs were perfectly healthy and the bloom was re- 

 tarded two weeks, and the young ladies were delighted 

 Avith having all the large fragrant white roses they 

 needed for commencement. That was not all, when 

 cold weather came and the leaves fell I dug up the 

 plants and found twenty well rooted bushes Avhere I 



