CHAPTER V 



BEHIND THE TIMES 



A packet of seed of something that is labelled magnificum or 

 grandiflorum may cost sixpence more, but as a rule it is worth 

 the money. 



WHY is the average home garden planted with inferior 

 kinds of plants, and the home gardener so dreadfully 

 behind the times in his selections of flowers ? That 

 such a condition of affairs unfortunately prevails is patent 

 to the discerning eye, and alas ! it is disquieting to the 

 discerning mind. It is all very well to blame the second- 

 rate nurseryman, and perhaps the jobbing gardener who 

 has a little nursery of his own, for supplying plants and 

 flowers that, whatever may have been their merits a 

 generation ago, are now hopelessly out of date and out- 

 classed by new and improved sorts. But why leave 

 the selection to him ? Surely, if it is worth while 

 spending a five-pound note on stocking one's garden, it is 

 worth while also making a few preliminary inquiries as to 

 the best kinds to grow. For in these days of keen com- 

 petition, plants even the best of plants are cheap, and 

 the editor of any one of the numerous gardening papers 

 is always only too willing to give advice to his readers. 



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