Among the Flowers With Rexford 



PRACTICAL HELPS IN FLORICULTURE FOR AMATEURS 



ACOEEESPOXDEXT writes: "I don't 

 see anything about botany in yonr 

 department of Home axd Flowers. 

 If YOU are trying to educate people to a 

 greater appreciation of tlowers, why do 

 you neglect the fundamental principles 



of itr 



I do not consider a knowledge of botany 

 a ^'fundamental principle" in the love for, 

 and appreciation of the tlowers I write 

 about. One may understand the make-up 

 of a iiower better if he is a botanist, but 

 for the flower as a flower he cares no more 



AN "IMPROVED" CARPENTER SHOP 



than he did before he was able to analyze 

 it. What I aim at is to encourage a 

 knowledge of tlowers for themselves, be- 

 lieving that such knowledge will ripen 

 into a love for them. It doesn't matter to 

 the average person about botanical knowl- 

 edge. It is something in which he takes 

 very little interest. He sees the beauty of 

 the flower, and is content with that. The 

 fact is, it is not in the province of such 

 a periodical as this to teach l)otany, which 

 is a study belonging to the schools. What 

 we aim to do is to get people to groiving 

 flowers, and the love for them will follow. 

 If this department were given up to bo- 

 tanical articles, it would be a flat failure. 

 It is far more satisfactory for the non- 

 scientific person to know how to grow a 



flotver well than it is to be able to give an 

 analysis of it from the standpoint of a 

 botanist. 



Another correspondent writes that fre- 

 quently names are given which are 

 misleading to the ordinary amateur, be- 

 cause they are not the common names 

 of plants. By this I presume she has 

 reference to the local names which most 

 plants have. A little thought will con- 

 vince her that local names are really 

 the uncommon names, because they are 

 used only in localities and are not of com- 

 mon use, or general application. The 

 names used in this department are the 

 names by which the plants spoken of are 

 known the world over, therefore they are 

 the only ones entitled to the adjective of 

 "common." If I were to speak of plants 

 by the names given them in different lo- 

 calities, most of my readers would be at a 

 loss to understand what plants were 

 meant. Only those where the local name 

 was used would know. This being the 

 case, it will be readily understood that it 

 is absolutely necessary to give all plants 

 a nomenclature which can be generally ap- 

 plied. We like to know persons by their 

 real names rather than their nicknames 

 only, and we ought to know flowers in the 

 same way. 



I am very much pleased with the kind 

 words which come to me from flower- 

 loving people about this department of 

 Home and Flowers. We always like to 

 know that what we do affords other people 

 pleasure. To one and all who have had 

 a kind word to say, I wish to tender 

 hearty thanks, and assure them that we 

 have only just begim to do what we have 

 long had in mind. It takes time to get 

 under motion, you know. But we have 

 got a start, and we hope to make each 

 number of the magazine better than its 

 predecessor. 



