CHAPTER III. 



SUITABLE PLANTS. 



THE DIFFERENCES. GENERAL HINTS. SELECTIONS FOR SITUATIONS. 



.OU remember that the planting of the old 

 Eden was already finished when the gardeners 

 took possession. It had been done by One who 

 could make no mistakes, who put there only such 

 plants as were sure to flourish under proper 

 treatment. That certainly was of great advantage 

 to the primitive florists as mere beginners. It left with 

 them no such question as we have now to consider. It 

 relieved them entirely from the necessity of selecting and 

 experimenting under perplexing uncertainties. They 

 could go to work at once with the assurance that their 

 failures could come only from some mistake in the " dress- 

 ing and keeping" never from having the wrong plant in 

 the wrong place. 



What a help such an assurance would be to us. It 

 might not be best for us, all things considered, but it 

 would certainly simplify the problem presented by the fail- 

 ures which have led you to ask from me these letters. In 

 that case, I might dispense with this letter altogether, and 

 proceed at once to the question of proper treatment. But 

 remembering my own early failures, as well as some later 

 ones, I feel very sure that yours have arisen, in part at 

 least, from an injudicious selection of your plants. Let 

 us see. 

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