204 THE GOLD MINE 



found the safest way is to put moss and oiled paper 

 around bundles of twenty-five, packing them as care- 

 fully as possible, and leaving the box a little open. 

 When the flowers reach their destination they are put 

 in cold storage, where they are kept dormant till needed. 

 White flowers are much used for weddings and funerals. 

 When Mark Hanna's youngest daughter was married 

 the house was most beautifully decorated with white 

 Paeonies. There is a great difference in the' keeping 

 qualities of these flowers. The single ones are much 

 admired while growing in the garden, but they are much 

 more short-lived than the large double ones. Then 

 there are some that grow old gracefully, like La Tulipe, 

 Baroness and Festiva Maxima. Others are very dilapi- 

 dated and ugly in their dotage. Richardson's Rubra 

 Superba and Tecumseh are fine keepers. . So is Grand- 

 iflora Rubra. The former can be kept in cold storage 

 a long time. 



Usually the first flowers of a plant are the best. If 

 you wait for some to bloom, and then cut the buds of 

 those that follow, you do not get as good specimens. If 

 you are shipping, watch them closely, and the first har- 

 vest will prove to be the best. 



This is the most popular of all the flowers for Decora- 

 tion Day. Some seasons they are then in their full 

 glory. There is much call in our northern cities for 

 those raised further south. In most of our northern 

 states early bloomers can be secured. L'Esperence, a 

 lovely, fragrant, French pink, is generally on time with 

 great masses of bloom. Florists should especially draw 



