The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-17

Tn purchasing the plants tnat are ~
give a. wealth of bloom ouiiiie
summer months it will De WISE ~ %
RI q. practical florist, who can give 81"
oestions for culture at the tlhie u
lection. The exaggerated accounts %
wonderful novelties that are so'.e
times catalogued are not always sa'is
Factory even if their culture Is uliuei
stood. 49,, ,o-,,ca
TbarA are few things the novice
makes more mistakes about IMAM .ne
common one Of buying plants. Iheie
are so many things to De cohsiuei
and one does not always stop " ~
slider The beautiful catalogues are
sent out We look them over anu oui
hearts beat fast; our pulses quichei'
nur very eyes shine as we iooh 'nei,-
over and read of the WONDERFUL mas
ficent. glorious, glowing mowers !ea,
we mentally admit we simply NUS
have that wonderful novelty. we looA
a little farther and we read or a now
or so delicate. so transcendently lovely,
50 rare. a living snowflake, or olru
song Mortified, words fail to describe
its aerial delicacy and tender beauty
lis CuIClNdllOU 10 ~
can grow it. and well-this is announcer
of the must HAYES" Its price Is SINAI
In comparison to it's wonderful worth.
Then we come to some OF the nios'
unique, odd, peculiar-looklng plah'
specimens, easy to cultivate d..
tracing the notice of all beholders'
etc. So we go on through the entire
catalogue. we find our list of must
HAYES" long one and (must we admit
it0 a rather expensive one, too.
But then the plants are so rare, 50
uncommon in so many reHidi hioie
WAYS. that we conclude after all thdt
W. can't give them up. we look the
list over and over, trying to ma one
we, are willing to give up, but they
have fascinated us and enthralled us.
and we can't make up our minds to
relfnquish them. So we ''scrimp" here
and we "skinch' there, we can get
along somehow, and so we make out
cur neatest order and send it to the
Plant Novelty company, of Blankville.
Fraud county, state of Anywhere.
In due time our box Of plants arrives.
They are small and they don't look
much like the gorgeous-colored plates
in the Plant Novelty catalogue.
We take them up tenderly, little
mystified They are quite jumbo IN
our hands, after all. We don't know
what kind of soil or treatment they
want, but we want to be good to them,
SO we get some good big pots 1--WE are
sure they will need them, for the grow
so big. you know.
We have heard that some folks put
bits of broken crockery in the bottom
of the pots We do not think it neces-
sary; it takes up too much room, and
we want our plants to have plenty or
room to grow.
We take infinite pains to get some
fresh manure for surely plants grow
better in a rich soil than a poor one.
We pot the plants, and we keep them
out of the sun for awhile and water
freely. They don't do we'll, so we put
them in the south window, until time
for planting outside, and TO- and be-
hold they all shrivel up; we give more
water and we tend them, hoping
against hope that they will sprout up
from the roots; they don't sprout, and
finally we set the pots away. sos {.
Perhaps you will think my pen pic
ture resembles the cheap chromos, IN
that it is too highly colored and hasn't
a good perspective. Well, your judgri
ment is better than mine, no doubt; but
there are just such cases as the above.
There are some florists who make
speciality of novelties, of bringing out
plants, both new and old, under Won
derful descriptions, to allure the un-
wary 1t is better always to buy plants
and seeds of old and reliable firms.
There is another thing 1t is always
better to do, and that is use little
common sense in selecting. There Is
Dne thing about most Of the flower cat
alogues that I always regret, and that
is that along with the description OF
plants they do not state, in every case,
their requirements in regard to soil,
sun, atmosphere and water.
These are things l always want TO
know: Does plant want rich soil, plen-
ty of water and all the sunshine pos
Bible or does it need a poor sandy soil,
little water and shade? These things
are so important that even with some
experience, and using the best 1udg-
ment can muster, lose plants that I
very much desire to grow. I believe 1t
Is so with most plant growers.
If you don't know just what plants
to buy be sure and get something
standard, something you are fairly sure
has been partially tested at least, in