IN THE FRONT YARD. 179 



in this Manual. I think it would be much better to 

 go heavily into the business of propagation than to send 

 so much money to Europe and import so many disap- 

 pointments. 



There is a future for this industry. For instance, 

 the new Japanese, with their peculiar stamens, are 

 very unique. I have about twenty-four kinds. They 

 seed readily, and, having them hemmed in with other 

 fine varieties, I have great hopes of a new race of hy-^ 

 brids. I also intend this fall of 1904 to plant about 

 two quarts of the very choicest seeds that I can secure. 

 I have large quantities of my own and have engaged 

 more, and from the coming thousands I hope to see 

 some of superior merit. As to those which will not 

 be named, keep them. The great empire of the North- 

 west will need them. Most of those raised by Western 

 growers yet go East, and the bleak E'orthwest is ^vak- 

 ing up to their merits, and will yet absorb millions. 



CARE or SEEDS AND PLANTING. 



It is better to gather the seeds before they get thor- 

 oughly dried, and plant immediately, or mix them with 

 moist sand and plant just before the ground freezes. 

 In the West, often our falls are so dry that seed, at 

 the ordinary depth, would dry out. Those can be 

 planted that are thoroughly dried, but it takes two, and 

 even three, years for them to germinate. They should 

 be planted in rows about two inches deep. If, in the 

 spring the ground should incline to crust, it may need 

 pulverizing with a rake, so that the little plants can 



