260 
THE FLORIST. 
III. Endeavour to get some friends to share with you in your orders. 
—I want, for instance, a dozen new Chrysanthemums, or half a dozen 
new Roses. I can’t possibly afford them all, but if two friends will 
agree to order them with me we can readily exchange cuttings of the 
former—which grow like weeds,—or buds of the latter, so that in the 
one case, in the course of the same season, I and my friends have 
each the set of twelve, and in the other, the following season we each 
have the Roses. So far from this being injurious to nurserymen, I 
believe it is favourable to them, for none of us could separately go to 
the expense of having a parcel of four Chrysanthemums and two Roses 
from Slough or Sawbridgeworth, though we are glad to share the 
expense between us. 
There is, again, the advantage in attending to these things, and 
having really good things, that you can generally find people willing to 
exchange, as, for instance, this year one nurseryman is glad to have 
some of my Carnations, another Verbenas, and another bulbs. This all 
helps me out in adding new things to my stock. 
I have one word to say in conclusion in this part. If by any chance 
you do happen to have a bad thing, destroy it; do not give it away. 
Believing that a taste for flowers is likely to prevent a taste for sinful 
pleasures, I feel we ought to do everything to encourage it amongst 
one’s neighbours. Give away freely, and give the best you can spare ; 
and though your neighbour be a poor one, do not allow yourself to say, 
“ Oh, anything will do for him.” I am far from thinking that any 
refinement of taste will prevent men’s sinning, but still I think there is 
a beneficial quiet influence in flowers which may well do service. Unlike 
sculpture or painting they are God’s work, not man’s, and may some¬ 
times perhaps lead the heart of him who looks on them to think of Him 
who made them and him. 
I had intended to have said something on Verbenas, new and old, 
this month, but must postpone it, and see what will be my calendar of 
operations for September, and let me say—I use this advisedly—I do 
not wish to say that it is what ought to be done, but what I am doing, 
and what I generally find succeeds well enough for me. 
Greenhouse, Frames, &c. —It will soon be time to overhaul these. 
Paint where necessary; repair glass ; and thoroughly cleanse before 
putting in winter stock. 
Auriculas .—Keep clear of weeds, and protect from autumnal rains. 
These very beautiful flowers suffer more from wet than anything else. 
Carnations and Picotees. —The layers will soon be rooted. I take 
them off, and pot either singly or two in a pot in the same stuff in 
which they have been grown, with the addition of a little road grit. 
Pansies. —As they root pot also in small pots, and protect from very 
heavy rains ; still put in cuttings. 
Scarlet Geraniums, and General Bedding Stock. —As these become 
rooted it will be desirable to pot them in thumbs, and harden them for 
the winter. 
Roses. —Buds will want looking to, and the ties loosened if the buds 
be swelling. 
I find it necessary to under-pot rather than otherwise, in 
