196 THE GOLD MINE 



growers have now hundredsj soon to go on the market, 

 as fine as we import. 



DIFFICULTIES. 



Where one has several hundred varieties it is hard 

 to keep the stakes all right. The weather will wear off 

 the names in a few months, and they must be re-marked 

 with care. Sometimes the stakes will be broken down. 

 Perhaps an inquisitive visitor may pull one up to read 

 the name and set it back facing the wrong way. So, 

 with the greatest care, mistakes are inevitable. I have 

 bought of the leading firms of America and Europe, 

 and have never yet found one which did not have 

 more or less mixtures. Of course, among the most care- 

 ful, the strays would be insignificant. Anything seri- 

 ous, of course, is corrected as soon as possible. This 

 goes to show that very few of us are infallible. One- 

 of our western growers was sick, and hired a man to 

 plow out his plants, and he, like a ^Svild bull in a china 

 shop," knocked down most of the stakes, so the plants 

 had to be sold as a mixed lot. 



THE PKOPER WAY. 



is to wait till the plants bloom before stock is put on the 

 market, unless you have it from some reliable firm. If 

 mistakes occur, rectify them as soon as possible. I find 

 the best way is to have good, strong stakes, at least two 

 feet tall, painted, with the bottoms dipped in coal tar. 

 I know one dealer who received a very abusive letter 

 from a purchaser who bought two years before, and 



