THE JOY OF COMPARATIVE SUCCESS 



And we who only get flowers from our plants by much 

 persuasion, probably appreciate them more than others 

 to whom the finest come as a matter of course. 



One ought to be able to enjoy to the full the incom- 

 parable beauty of an up-to-date display of Orchids in 

 the rudest of health and full of the most bewitching 

 flowers, yet be equally content with the half-dozen 

 Cypripediums that thrive more or less contentedly in 

 the greenhouse at home. What if every now and then a 

 leaf turns yellow or a flower bud fails to fulfil its promise ? 

 Why those that remain receive all the greater care. And 

 if one is enthralled with the inspiring sight of a whole 

 gamut of pink Roses of the same variety, jostling each other 

 for breathing space in some giant flower bed, the Roses at 

 home, with whose every petal one is acquainted and 

 upon whose leaves one is able almost to detect every 

 fresh greenfly that appears, should arouse much keener 

 delight, for one has tended them from birth, and the 

 tending has been a labour of love. It is the same the 

 garden through. 



What quaint ideas some of us have on the score 

 of gardening success ! How bizarre are some of the 

 results that seemingly give chief delight ! If a Holly- 

 hock or a yellow-faced, black-nosed Sunflower grows 10 

 feet high instead of its normal 5 feet or 6 feet, at once 

 we write to the papers and record the fact. And until 

 someone ventures the statement that his Hollyhock or 

 Sunflower has overtopped ours by a good 6 inches, 



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