The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-06-05
THE CULTIVATION OF FLOWER
GARDENS

One of the cheapest luXufies III
which persons of moderate income
may indulge, and one which becomes
lasting source Of pleasure to young
and old, is the cultivation of flower
garden. An English writer has said,
of all the occupations in the world il
is the one which best combines reposc
and activity. 1t is not idleness; it is
not stagnation; and yet it is perfect
auietude. Like all things mortal II
has its failures and its disappoint.
ments, and there are some things hard
to understand. But it is never with
out its rewards, and, perhaps, if there
were nothing but successful cultiva'
ton, the aggregate enjoyment would
be less. 1t is better for the OCCASION
al shadows that come over the scene
The discipline, too, is most salutary
1t tries our patience and it tries our
faith. But even in the worst seasons
there is far more to reward and en-
courage than to dishearten and dis
appoint. There is no day of the year
without something TO afford tranquil
pleasure to the cultivator of flowers,
something on which the mind may
rest-rest with profit and delight.
After the first few difficulties have
been overcome, the amount of care
required by flowers is tritiing compar-
ed with the qualification they afford.
Their cultivation is in itself q pleas
ure, rather than labor, and is one OF
the most healthful and fitting employ
ments in which young people can be
taught to engage. With children the
natural spirit of inquiry incident to
youth will prompt them to discover
something of the nature and proper.
ties of the flowers they cultivate, and
from this germ may spring habits OF
observation which in after years will
be of the utmost value.
1t is a common mistake to suppose
that flowers can only be raised in ex'
tensive grounds. Light and air are
indispensable, but there are few por,
tions of this city, even those districts
in which the buildings cluster most
thickly, that do not afford sufficient OF
these requisites for the successful cu!,
tivation of some of the harder kinds
of plants Several years ago an eX-
hibition was held in London, at which
prizes were offered exclusively for
flowers raised in pots by persons
dwelling within certain defined dis
tricts of the city. The promoters OF
this scheme were gratiiied to find that
their experiment had succeeded be-
yond their hopes. The number OF
exhibitors was very large, and the
abundant quantity of beautiful flow
ers offered by them showed no trace
of fthe uncongenial surroundings amid
which they had been raised. These
flowers were grown on the window
sills and parapets of the poorest sec
tions of the city, the impurities of the
atmosphere of which has become pro-
verbal. 1t is also noticeable that a
large proportion of the successful
competitors at this exhibition were
children.
The infinitely purer air and less
crowded condition of American cities
consequently offer immeasurably su-
perior advantages for the cultivation
of window gardens to those enjoyed
by the exhibitors at the London flow
er show. The relief to the eye, caus-
ed by tho downy leaves and bright
scarlet blossoms of single geranium
will Danish half the gloom from an
otherwise utterly dull and repclling
house front, and if the practice of cul-
tivating window gardens became gen
eral, acres of monotonous brick work
might thus be transformed and made
to become bright and pleasant