Nebraska advertiser., 1868-05-07
About Flowers.

A correspondent of the Prairie Far
mer says: Many Of your subscribers
wives and daughters, have sent up al
appealing voice for information in grow
ing flowers without so much trouble
Now, years of observation and reading
have long ago convinced me that farm
ers wives have little time 10 the elaborate
methods which so many Horticultural
writers surround the cultivation of those
beautiful gifts of God, and / am not sur
prised 10 receive so many inqiries and
~entreaties 10 tell them my method. Some
have assured me it would be gladly
received by hundreds of your readers.
/ am always ready towards helping
along every good thing that will promote
the good, the true and the beautiful /;
thus, / am a passionate lover Of flowers,
and the greatest pleasure a friend can
give me is a new variety, and yet, /
neve could tell which was the greatest
pleasure. TO giUe Or TecieUe them!
/ would urge upon every woman in
vour own beautiful land to cultivate al
least a few flowers and, more especially,
ihe woman Of our country homes, for
they Of ell others, need some mental
relaxation after the toll Of the day is
over and a few Moment after the sun
is down, will accomplish much. / live on
a farm, and have for The last few years,
and know something of what / write,
when ] say, that farmers wives and
daughters do not cultivate the beautiful
as much as they ought ; they labor until
''too tired TO move" end then sit down 10
knit or sew until bed time. Let them
commence cultivating flowers, and that ss
extensively as possible, and when ''too
tired to move" go out in the midst of
them and see if it is not refreshing to
the weary body. Let her take her chill.
-dren with her and interest them in
this really pleasant work. There is
no good reason why we should eschew
the culture. and refinements of town or
city life because we live on a farm. Hay-
ing tried both. / now bless the day, and
q deceased physicians memory, that
sent me into the country TO LiUe.
l am getting away from my subject,
and if the Editors of the FARMER will
indulge me in talking with the wives
and daughters of their many subscribers.
l will give them a little insight into nv
method of cultivating flowers, without
hot. beds and cold frames. l have Meth.
er q to grow mine. God gives the
blessed sun and flowers for all, and l
leave such methods TO the rich. / am
to those who cannot afford the
expense of time and money, and yet are
anxious 10 cultivate a variety of beautiful
lowers.
Antirrhinum, or Snap-dragon seems to
be the rage now, and it is really a beauty
all its varieties. and easily grown
in medium soil, neither too rich nor too
poor, worked up fine and the finer the
better.
Prepare the bed as early as possible
after the frost is out of the ground, and
make it off in squares, about FIVE inches
apart, and sow the seeds along the mark
ed places. Cover them a fourth Of an
inch deep When three or four inches
in hight. transplant. (Mine bore rough
treatment last spring in transplanting,
and fOurshed fnely.) Water well
when tr~ansplanting, and cover during
heat of the day, for a week, and they
will do for themselves after that. Do
bot forget to keep them supplied with
for two or three weeks after trans
planting. They are perennial. but many
Of them blossom the first year. All
that have plants out in the open ground
now, should see that they are well COW
cred, as freezing and thawing Is death
to them. Throw straw loosely over them
at once.