214 THE GOLD MINE 



how. Plant them in low, wet ground, where the water 

 can stand on them, and you will succeed. Put them 

 in wet, undrained soil. Let the snow drift on them 

 before the ground freezes, and then it can be done. I 

 have known some in grass and weeds during three years 

 of consecutivei drouth to be absolutely dried out and 

 killed. It has been done by driving over them or 

 tramping on them till the earth is like a brick bat. But 

 they will stand all that any plant can and offer patient 

 and quiet resistance as long as possible, and let go of 

 life reluctantly. 



The spring of 1903 gave them the hardest test I ever 

 knew, and showed the diiferent degrees of hardiness. 

 April had been prematurely warm. There was a pros- 

 pect of very early blooming. The stalks were some of 

 them two feet tall and the buds were swelling rapidly. 

 Then on the night of the 29th there came a genuine, 

 wintry, sleet storm, and the plants in that tender condi- 

 tion were frozen solid in a coat of ice for two days. 

 When they thawed out they all looked tired, drooping 

 and water soaked ; but to our surprise a few days after 

 they stood erect and went right on with their prepara- 

 tion for blooming as though nothing had happened. 

 But I noticed that some varieties on low ground took 

 such treatment to heart. After the freeze came floods. 

 Fifteen inches of rain fell in May. Ground usually 

 well drained became a quagmire. Some kinds could 

 not endure it. The Duke of Wellington could survive 

 Waterloo, but not such treatment. Why the name of 

 a grim, old warrior should be given to such a flower I 



