210 THE GOLD MINE 



MISSION OF THE TOPS. 



It is a wise provision of JSTatiire that the tops should 

 fall down and shelter the roots and buds in winter. 

 Thej make a good covering in the absence of other 

 mulching. If they grow in the open the snow naturally 

 drifts in, detained by the fallen tops, and so you have 

 a snow bank for additional protection, and also spring 

 irrigation when the snow thaws. Yet in a visit to one 

 of the finest Omaha cemeteries I found they mowed 

 oif the tops, to have the surface uniform, and to pre- 

 vent the snow drifts, and the plants were blooming 

 beautifully. This might do in our present cycle of wet 

 seasons, but when years of consecutive drouth return, 

 it would be better to leave the tops. 



FEEAKS. 



Though generally sedate, yet this flower is sometimes 

 erratic. I just received a severe censure from a man 

 because his Rubra Triumphans, blooming a few months 

 after planting, came singly instead of double. He 

 bought of me because he thought I would be reliable, 

 and he didn't buy any single Paeonies, and wanted the 

 wrong righted. E'ow this flower, as well as many oth- 

 ers, is ambitious to show bloom as soon as possible, and 

 not having strength to produce a great, double flower, 

 gives a single one. Victoria Tricolor will bloom any- 

 way. If the root is small and out but a few months 

 it is bound to bloom. That seems to be its mission. 

 But it always cuts the coat according to the cloth. If 



