198 THE GOLD MINE 



tomers want them as late as May, and are disappointed 

 if they cannot get them. 



It is very easy to keep them back. Instead of pack- 

 ing them in wet moss, which would bring them forward 

 immediately, keep them cool and dry ; even if wilted a 

 little it will not hnrt them. One spring I received a 

 lot from France. They came late, and were packed 

 dry in an open basket. They were badly wilted. 

 Placing them in water a short time revived them. 

 They lived and grew, and some of them bloomed the 

 same season. Of course it is not necessary to keep them 

 very dry. They can be placed on a rack, like cannas 

 or dahlias. 



LATE BLOOMIISTG. 



If you wish to continue the flowering season into 

 July, take large roots with plenty of buds, and keep 

 them partially dry, as noted above, or in cold storage, 

 and plant out from the middle of May till the first of 

 June. But there may be this trouble about July 

 blooms: In Kansas and !N"ebraska the sun gets very 

 hot, and delicate flowers might have the sun scald. I 

 have seen this sometimes in the case of Madam Chaumy, 

 which is a large, late and very beautiful flower; also 

 with Richardson's Perfection. Where there is any 

 danger, set up stakes and stretch gunny sacking over 

 them. It is well to plant those for late flowering in 

 groups, so they can be easily protected. 



