CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS. 



Some people think, or rather they say, that it does not 

 pay to cultivate flowers. Whatever they may say, I do 

 not believe that they really think so. If they do, they 

 are certainly mistaken. It pays wonderfully well just 

 as it pays to be clean and neat, kind and polite. It is 

 not necessary to argue the question. I feel sure that my 

 young friends love flowers, and my business is to tell how 

 to grow them with the least trouble and expense, in the 

 greatest perfection and profusion. For my own part, I 

 would rather see them in profusion than in perfection. 

 I do not care how perfect they are, but I want a good 

 many of them; this is especially true of annual flowers, or 

 flowers grown every year from seeds. We will talk about 

 them in alphabetical order. 



ALYSSUM. 



Sweet Alyssum, as it is usually called, is a very hardy 

 plant, growing about six inches high 

 with clusters of small white flowers, 

 decidedly fragrant and very pretty. 

 Sow the seeds of this plant as soon as 

 the frost is out of the ground in the 

 spring, in rows wide enough apart to 

 admit the use of a 

 hoe. Drop three or 

 four seeds to each 

 inch of row, and 

 after the plants 

 are fairly started, 



Fig. 33. SWEET ALYSSUM. ... J 



thin out to one or 



two inches apart. Keep the ground well hoed and free 

 (150) 



