28 INTRODUCTION. 



cess. Proximity to market should be set down as 

 the first requisite to success, but not the only one 

 by any means. Character of the soil, and 

 facilities for obtaining manure, water, and other 

 necessities must be considered. These factors 

 will all be described in detail under their proper 

 heads. 



Last and most important of all, the man him- 

 self must be considered, or if possible must con- 

 sider himself. No man can learn to grow violets 

 from reading books, nor can he expect to get this 

 knowledge from watching others. He can get 

 help and suggestions of course, but the problems 

 themselves he must work out alone. There is no 

 such thing as luck in growing this crop, although 

 it often looks that way. A man succeeds because 

 he has the necessary knowledge to take advantage 

 of the little things and make the most of them. 

 Another fails because he does not see or fails to 

 realize the importance of the little hourly and 

 we might almost say minutely occurring things 

 which are necessary to make the plants grow and 

 thrive. It is not sufficient to be able to put on 

 water, mix soil, to fire, or to feed and propagate the 

 plants properly. The man may do all these accord- 

 ing to the very best practices and yet his plants 

 will never grow and bloom like those of the man 

 who has the intuitive knowledge to realize the 

 little needs and to make the cumulative effects of 

 this knowledge felt in just the right way and at the 



