262 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



LARKSPURS EASY TO GROW 



" There are but few plants in the garden so gen- 

 erally useful as the delphiniums; in fact, they are 

 indispensable, and are grown with the least possible 

 trouble. They will grow anywhere, and with a 

 little trouble the flowers can be had nearly the 

 whole season. The old clumps will come into 

 flower in early June, and by cutting half the plants 

 down to, say, within a foot of the ground, before 

 they show flower, a new growth will soon be made 

 to keep up a succession. In early spring sow a few 

 seeds in small pots in the house, or in a hotbed or 

 greenhouse, and they will come into flower just 

 before the frost, a few degrees of which does not 

 injure them. We prefer growing a few seeds an- 

 nually to the division of clumps, as young plants do 

 much better than old ones. When the old plants 

 begin to wane, throw out and replace with young 

 ones. The delphiniums will show by their flowers 

 a just appreciation of all the care and attention paid 

 them, and they fully deserve all they get. 



" Dictamnus fraxinella, the well-known gas plant, 

 so called because its flowers, on opening, emit a gas 

 that may be readily ignited by holding a lighted 

 match over the flowers during the evening, when 

 the gas is emitted most freely. This plant will 

 thrive almost anywhere and under all circum- 

 stances. It seems to delight in neglect, and in a 

 solitary position, whether in shade, or in partial 

 shade, and in soil too poor, seemingly, to sustain 

 plant life. This plant can be propagated only from 

 seeds, which must be sown as soon as ripe. Plants 

 of the Dictamnus have been known to live in one 

 place for 75 years." 



The foxglove family is old and well known. The 



