IN THE FRONT YARD. 149 



lurid scarlet, very showy and distinct, and of a cop- 

 pery hue. 



We are probahly on the eve of great advance with 

 this flower. As soon as they begin to turn from the 

 original type, you may expect rapid and wide varia- 

 tions. 



I have recently secured a few of the newer sorts and 

 will soon see what can be done in the way of crossing 

 them. 



This flower is a native of Armenia. 



PHLOXES. 



I once gathered a lot of seed for planting and laid 

 them in a vacant room upstairs. A few nights after, 

 in the stillness of the night, we heard a noise much like 

 popping corn. Going up to find out the cause, there 

 was another sharp snapping sound, and I saw a phlox 

 seed shoot across the room. Then I learned another 

 lesson on the intelligence of N^ature. I found out 

 afterwards that in the garden the ripe seeds would 

 snap out quite a distance from the plant. Of course 

 the design is to extend their scope and area and gradu- 

 ally possess more ground. This opened my eyes to 

 the possibilities of their improvement in raising them 

 from seed. 



This is not a difiicult matter if you know how. If 

 you don't, you will make a failure. 



An old and careful florist who had rare success on 

 other lines told me he never could raise phloxes from 

 seed. I asked him Avhat his method had been. He 



