‘ 
GOOD GARDENING ARGUMENTS 

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. and if Gentlemen which have little else toi doe, would be ruled by me, |} 
would advise them to spend their spare time in their Gardens; either in digging, 
setting, weeding, or the like, than which there is no better way in the world to pre- 
serve health. If a man want an Appetite to his Victualls, the smell of the Earth new 
turned up, by digging with a Spade willi procure it, and if he be inclined to a Con- 
sumption it will recover him. Gentlewomen, if the ground be not too wet, may doe 
themselves much good by kneeling upon a cushion and weeding. And thus both 
sexes might divert themselves from Idlenesse, and evill Company, which oftentimes 
prove the ruine of many ingenious people. . .’’-—William Coles, ‘“‘The Art of 
Simpling,’’ London, 1656, pages 120-21. (lI am indebted to Albert E. Lownes of 
Providence, R. |., for this quotation. ) 

“The longer | garden, the fewer tools | use. There is no easy highway to success 
in gardening. A pair of strong hands and plenty of good, honest sweat are the best 
equipment and if you throw in a strong back, a trowel, a rake, a long-handled shovel, 
a digging fork, and a scuffle hoe, | will be satisfied.’’—Richardson Wright (in 
“Horticulture’’), 1947. 
FLOWERS FROM BULBS 
The growing of flowers from bulbs is one of the most satisfying and rewarding 
indoor and outdoor recreations, hobbies or serious interests for the plantsman, garden 
lover, the shut-in, the invalid, convalescent, or the busy career person. It is a 
wonderful and pleasing occupation for the leisure time of any man, woman or child, 
especially those with an interest beyond the ordinary in the beauty of rare and un- 
usual plants and as a diversion for those who apply themselves strenuously to their 
daily tasks and need some kind of healthful relaxation. 
It is a hobby or a vocation to which you can apply all the time, scientific interest 
or just ordinary love of living things that you wish to give it. Superficial persons 
sometimes call bulb growing ‘‘the lazy man’s gardening,’ and while it is true that 
many kinds of bulbs, tubers, etc., will grow with little care and attention, and will 
Survive, if not exactly thrive, under long-continued neglect, nevertheless the bulb 
field is a tremendous and’ significant one, with material for all, from ages 8 to 80, 
from the beginner to the most advanced horticulturist. 


HYBRID AMARYLLIS BLOOMS OF HAYWARD STRAIN, now in the process of develop- 
ment from a crossing of the best Dutch and other European stock with the most vigorous and 
refined types of the American Nehrling-Mead strain, widely cultivated in this country for the 
bulbs. The imported types have better form, texture and color, while the American strain has 
more robust character, and greater resistance to disease and cultural difficulties. 
