GARDEN GIVES ITS REWARD 159 
have borne flowers, we must cut down their stalks 
to the ground, so that others may come up and 
take their places. I feel sorry their present blooms 
must pass, but, as this happens with all flowers, it 
surely will be a wise thing to get rid of their stalks. 
The tall sticks bearing seed-pods are not a bit 
pretty. Joseph thinks he will cut down most 
of ours in order to have more flowers, but will 
leave others to mature seeds. These seeds he will 
gather, dry thoroughly, and afterwards sow in the 
seed-bed. From Miss Wiseman also he has heard 
that this is a better way to manage with larkspur 
seeds than to save them over the winter and sow 
them in the spring. 
I seldom say anything to Joseph about seeds. 
He alone attends to such matters. At first, the 
idea of keeping plants from going to seed seemed 
strange to me, as I had thought that the very ob- 
ject of a plant’s existence was to make seed. When 
they are allowed tO' do this early in the season, they 
regard their work as done, and therefore cease 
blooming; but when they are prevented from going 
to seed, they know it quite well, and so keep on try- 
ing to accomplish their object by sending out new 
flowers. 
In every way must we be alive to take the best 
care of our larkspurs. They will live ten years 
in a garden, and every year send up stalks of more 
abundant flow'ers. As yet, no pest has attacked 
our plants. We notice, nevertheless, that Miss 
