140 EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 



them in, so as not to toucli the stems. Dig this about the roots of your 

 Geraniums^ Eoses, Verbenas, Pansies, etc., not letting it come in direct 

 contact with the tender roots, and you need not complain of the poverty 

 of the soil ; while the rich blooms of your flowers will fully repay the 

 extra labor. The barrel can be hid away under vines ; and, as the earth 

 is used up, add more to it. The Japanese and Chinese gardeners can 

 teach us a lesson in these matters. Nothing is wasted in their country ; 

 and their flower gardens are wonderfully beautiful and gorgeous. 



Eternal vigilance," Gen. Jackson's pet phrase, applies particularly to 

 gardening. One cannot grow fine flowers without some labor ; and you 

 will soon learn that constant efibrts are needed to make the flowers grow 

 into fine-shaped plants, filled with blossoms. You cannot garden one 

 week, and let it alone the next ; but you must watch it, and water it, and 

 weed it, daily, if you would be successful. It requires as much care to 

 cultivate a handsome garden, as to grow cabbages, melons and tomatoes, 

 and no more. 



An open exposure is desirable, where the sun will have free access to 

 the plants; there are some flowers like Fuchsias, Primroses, Daisies, 

 Pansies, etc., which bloom far better in beds that are sheltered from the 

 noonday sun ; and their tastes should be gratified. Yet nearly all plants 

 love the sun, and grow better, if directly under its influence. 



Selection and Solving of Seeds, 

 This is a matter of importance to amateur gardeners, who usually 

 desire the handsomest kinds that can be grown. It takes no more time 

 and care to grow a small, poor, single flower than a rich, double variety ; 

 and the cost is but little more. Always purchase your seeds of reliable, 

 well-known seedsmen, and do not content yourself with those offered by 

 small traders. 



Seed raisers who make it a business, raise only the finest kinds ; the 

 poorer sorts do not pay. Hundreds of dollars worth of good seeds are 

 annually wasted because the growers do not know how to plant them. 

 They require a very finely pulverized soil ; and, if the coarser particles 

 are sifted out, the seeds will germinate more surely. In the Chapter 

 on Aki!^^uals, minute directions are given for sowing seeds. Since writ- 

 ing it, I have sowed sixty, or more, different varieties, and hardly one 

 hifs failed to germinate. Every seed of some varieties has come " up.'* 

 There is no difficulty in their culture, if you will only take a little pains 



