IN THE FRONT YARD. 203 



blaze in their splendor ; a host of gaillardias, that are 

 always in bloom, from June till I^ovember; and there 

 are 5,000 phloxes vieing with each other. Why not 

 be generous Avith yourself out of doors as well as in the 

 house ? If you were furnishing a new home, you Avould 

 not go to a second hand store and get old rag carpets be^ 

 cause they Avere cheap, and rickety chairs and other 

 furniture, AA-ith a lot of old bedsteads. 



In fixing up your front yard, Avliy not haA^e the best, 

 and plenty of it? A 25 cent Paeony does not match 

 that fine parlor set, and a lone floAver or tAvo Avill look 

 cheap compared AA^th the $50 rug. It is much better 

 to put less in the house, and more on the outside, where 

 it Avill groAv in A^alue, Avliile the house and everything 

 in it begins to deteriorate as soon as you enter it. 



CUT FLOWERS. 



More and more choice floAvers are groAving in favor. 

 It is amazing hoAv great the demand is for roses, carna- 

 tions, lilies and others. The Paeony stands among the 

 best. Properly handled, it keeps a long time. They 

 should be cut in the cA-ening, just as the buds begin to 

 open. Use a long stem. Strip off the lower leaA^es and 

 put the stems in Avater over night. They absorb mois- 

 ture enough to feed the flowers and keep them from Avilt- 

 ing. These are carefully packed in a box and sent to 

 their destination. If there are too many in the box 

 and the floAvers are Avet they Avill heat in a few hours. 

 In Avet Aveather it is hard to get the remaining blooms 

 and leaves dry enough to ship any distance. We have 



