The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-05-30
JOBSON'S FINE BULBS


Madam" ne sternly inquired of Mrs
Jobson on that occasion, edo you labor I'M
der the hallucination that your husband is
the owner OF dozen or so of 200, O00-Oar-
rels-per-hour gushers in the Beaumont oil
fields! Dye imagine that I'm at the head
OF the beet sugar interest in this country"
But, said Mrs. Jobson, Gust few lit
tie plants to make the house look cheer
| full"
Cheerful nothing" broke in Mr.. Jobson
The blossomsll all drop off of those meas
ley geranlums and azaleas and things with
| IN "A hours, and then the plantsll be-
gin to crinkle up, and inside of three
days they'll all be deader'n sailed mack
| elels."
Mr.. Jobson's prediction as to the short
| lived character of Mrs. Jobson's plants
didn't come true. In fact, Mrs. Jobson was
| engaged in watering them few evenings
| later when there was ring at the front
| door bell. Mr.. Jobson answered the bell.
The individual on the stoop, as Mr.. Jobson
perceived in the dim light, was arrayed in
| the uniform of bluejacket of the United
| States navy. The bluejacket seemed to
have pretty plausible way about him.
Good evening, Mr.. Jobson," he said, as
| soon as Mr.. Jobson had opened the door
Il was told to-day by Mr.. Blank" naming
well-known business man to whom Mr..
Jobson had been under more or less obi
cation, that you are interested in rare
kinds of foreign plants"
"Um-yes" said Mr.. Jobson, a bit sur
prised, but fattered that the well-known
business man should have had him in mind
in connection with such connoisseurship.
Come in" and Mr.. Jobson held the door
| open invitingly. The man in the sailors
uniform stepped into the hall. He was a
bronzed, shrewd-lo looking chap. Under his
arm he held a small package.
WELL went on the man in the tar's
makeup. Give just got back to Washing
ton, my home, from a cruise in the China
seas, and I've brought number of speci-
mems of Chinese dubious plants back with
me-"
Chat so?" inquired Mr.. Jobson, some
what interested to be engaged in converse
ton with a heavy-weather chap who had
been so far from home.
eyes, sir" replied the man in the deep
water rig, "and I've brought a few of the
specimens along with me-" and he proceed
ed to unwrap the package.
The package contained about dozen
round, Notwithstanding, rather dirty bulbs.
The individual with the salt water makeup
picked one of them out and held it up to
the light between his thumb and forefnger.
''This one" he said, belongs to the fam
lily Chinkalensis Bloomerionus. It's about
the most rapid-growing dubious plant
known in the Horticulture of China. All
you have to do is to plant it about three
inches deep in pot and set it in the sun,
watering it couple of times day, and in
side of week or so an orchid-like blossom,
in three distinct colors, makes its appear
ance, seeming to grow right out of the
loam."
"Well, I'll be dinged" exclaimed Mr..
Jobson, taking the bulb and examining it
curiously. That's quick action for fell
lows money, isn't it,"
eyes, sir" complacently replied the man
with the tar's uniform. "The beauty of it
is that's the only specimen of the Chinka-
lenss Bloomerionus now in the United
States, and the superintendent of the Bo-
tanical gardens here has been trying to
get hold of specimen, they tell me, for
years. All of these other specimens belong
to the family Mongolosus Gopherbolgus.
You plant them just the same as the other,
only it takes 'em about ten days to bloom.
Inside of three weeks, however, they at
tain the size of large rubber plants, and
the flower, a good deal like purple pansy,
sheds fragrance like that of the Sicilian
violet"
"B'jee, that's odd, now, for a fact!" said
Mr.. Jobson. Mrs. Jobson," he called,
"here's something in the way of plants
that's worth while-not your common, ordi-
nary geraniums, and truck like that, but
rare stuff right straight from the land of
the slant-eyes. This young man has just
got back from China, and he was recon-
mended to fetch those Dubious contraptions
to me by Mr.. Blank" and Mr.. Jobson re-
peated to her the directions he had listened
to as to how the things should be planted.
Mrs. Jobson got behind him and tried to
tug at his sleeve, but Mr.. Jobson didn't or
wouldn't notice this move. Then Mrs. Job
son said:
IT don't believe you'd care for them,
would your" at the same time shaking her
head at Mr.. Jobson when the man in the
sailors uniform wasn't looking. Mr.. job
son only scowled at these manifestations,
however, and turned to the visitor.
"What dye want for the whole lot Of
'em, SOM" he inquired.
"Well," was the reply, Gust because you
take an interest in such things, and because
l know you'll cultivate 'em and raise 'em
right, I'd be willing to sell them to you,
Mr. Jobson, for just what they cost me
"a yen, or $l2."
That's reasonable enough" said Mr..
Jobson, all the more resolved because Mrs.
Jobson continued to shake her head when
the visitor wasn't looking, and he paid the
man the $40 and took the package of
brownish, dirty-looking bulbs. The man
tipped Mr. and Mrs. Jobson a salute and
departed
That very night Mr.. Jobson impressed
into service a small-sized tub that he found
in the storeroom, filed it with earth dug
from the back yard, and planted the dozen
and odd bulbs as per the directions of the
man with the tar's rig. He set the tub in
the middle of the back yard, and for a
couple of weeks he himself attended to the
watering of them. The Chinkalensis
Bloomerionus seemed to be rather back
ward, but Mr.. Jobson attributed that to the
rawness of the weather. After about three
weeks a couple of tiny green shoots made
their appearance from each of the bulbs,
and Mr.. Jobson was so elated that he called
his next-door neighbor into the back yard
to look at them, explaining grandiloquently
the nature of the plants. The next-door
neighbor, who had been raised in the coun-
try, looked at the tiny green shoots for
Jobson with a grin.
They're onions" he said to Mr.. Jobson.
Mr.. Jobson called him an idiot, but when
he saw that Mrs Jobson had overheard