The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1872-03-08
LOWERS AND THEIR cULTURl
BY N. B. BATEHAM AND J. WICK.

One OF the greatest wants OF THIS
age and country is happier homes
for the people. This want is es
pecially manifest among our rural
population, as means of contrac-
ting the spirit of unrest and discon-
tent, and the thirst for wealth and
display, which is Turing so men and
women 10 forsake their country
homes for the excitements and fol
lies of city life
OF all the means for making home
attractive, foWerS are among the
best. They are inexpensive, require
but little skill and labor for their
production, and their culture affords
pleasing and healthful recreation
for the female and younger members
of the household. The love of
flowers, in a family or community, is
every where regarded as both a
means and an evidence of ofrefnement
and advanced civilization.
1t is very gratifying to notice
how rapidly the taste for flowers has
increased in this country during the
past few years. In large cities the
use of plants and flowers for the dec
Grafton of parlors, and especially at
weddings and parties, has increased
ten fold within the past FIVE or six
years. 1t is not unusual for five
hundred or a thousand dollars to be
expended at a fashionable wedding
or party for floral decorations. Not
less remarkable is the increased
taste for flowers and fioreculture
among the people of our towns and
villages, and also among the better
class of farmers throughout the
country. The proportion of house
holds that now cultivate flowers is
at least three times as great as it
was four or five years ago. May
God speed this good work, till every
dwelling in town and country shall
have its flower garden, or if no
flower garden, its balcony or bay
window of choice plants and flowers
Let the press and the pulpit lend
their influence to help on this move
ment, and let the Agricultural and
Horticultural Societies give en-
couragement to Horticulture as one of
the useful branches Of domestic in
dustTy, remembering that MAN shall
not live by bread alone"
The principal agents in this ben
eficent works are the Florists and
Scotsman, who are annually dis
tributing seeds, bulbs, and plants, at
low prices for the million, through
out the whole country, by means
of cheap postage; and also diffusing
information about flowers and their
culture, by means Of attractive cata-
logues and Floral Guides" of which
hundreds of thousands are annually
distributed.
The following practical hints on
Horticulture are furnished by Mr..
Wick:
The location of flower beds should
be mostly near the front and sides
of the dwelling, and in view of the
parlor and sitting room windows;
but there should also be a reserve
flower garden. little in the rear, or
in connection with the vegetable or
fruit garden, where a liberal stock of
ANIMALS and other free blooming
plants should be grown for supply
ing cut flowers for the parlor and
dinning room, sending to sick neigh
bors, OF decorating the church or
school house. The beds Of choice
flowers near the house should not
be robbed for these purposes, though
more than half the p.easure of grow
ing flowers is derived from seeing
other people enjoy them.
The ground in front of a dwelling
should if possible be a Ialon, with
few shade trees and shrubs planted
near the sides, and the central por-
tions in grass alone, kept smooth
and neat by frequent moWings. On
this lawn few flower beds should
be neatly cut in the sod, of such
shapes and sizes as fancy and con-
venience may dictate; but it is best
to choose shapes having few sharp
points or angles, and the size to be
governed by the size of the lawn
and house. From to 8 feet in
width is a good average.
In preparing the beds, have the
ground made rich, deep and mellow.
If the sub soil is poor or hard, re-
move it, for a foot or more in depth.
and wheel on good soil, mixing in
old manure. When finished the
middle of the bed should be little
higher than the level of the SD, and
the outside a little lower, but not
slopiDg 81 much as the cause water
from showers to run off quickly.
WHAT TO PLANT.-Don't attempt
too much at the first. Beginners
are apt to plant too many varieties
Of flowers, and spoil the effect by a
mixture of poorly grown specimens
on O little space. Better begin with