Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-04-21
Rains Descended and Floods
Came to Bless Planter.
Then His Neighbor's Pup Wanted to
: Contribute His Share.
But HorticuIturist Is Still Spading and
Has Hopes.

! in an anna teuf way - peStiiiillS u
realize that it is not all gold that gilt
tiers. not even in the raising of posies,
and in his short though rapid, career
he has acquired more knowledge than
1ordinariIy falls to the lot OF man. He
feels now ut this stage of the game
that he is fully equal to the task of
writing a book on the ms and outs of
raising flowers. mostly outs, but he is
mot disheartened or diScoura Sed in the
least and thinks that if the season
holds good and the frost hangs off long
enough he may be able to harvest a few
pansies and sweet peas by the first
week in November if not earlier.
| He has had a feeling for the past
wear or SO that if there is any one
thing on this earth that he was es-
pecially adapted to it is the raising of
flowers and this season the feeling was
so strong he could not sleep nights
until he had made a beginning on that
| flower bed.
The first thing was to select 4 good
warm. sunny place on the south side OF
the house right between his sitting
room windows where Old Soils rays
could warm things up like a Con-
| gressional debate. Having selected the
ground the next thing was the seed and
| that was a question which required
considerable judgment and horse
sense After several days spent in
! looking over catalogues and price lists
he concluded to trust himself to the
| tender mercies of the local seed man
! who sorted him up with general as
sortment of Emily HendersOn's Cardi-
nal King. Pink Princess sweet peas
and naSturtiums galore. The seed man
was Verv kind and assured him that
| the seeds were all this years growth
and if they didn't come up he the seed
man, would come around and pull them
up.
| Now our amateur gardener was all
| equipped and long before the worm
was out in the dewy morn waiting for
the bird to catch him, the florist was
scratching that seed plot over. First he
spaded it all up, then he dug a long
trench of the peas and nasturtiums
and planted them blossom end up.
He worked early and late ana
| the perSpratiOn ran off his Daniel
Webster brow enough to run a
grist mill. He felt like old Atlas
with the world on his shoulders and
| kink in his back. After the job was
all completed he used to crane his neck
out Of the window nights to see the
| flowers poke through the ground.
Now there was only one thing more
he needed to complete his happiness, so
he said. and that was a little rain and
when the heavenly moisture COM
| menced to patter upon the tin roof he
ina gined that he could almost smell
the fragrance of those sweet peas as
they sprouted and took root. At in
tervals during the night he could hear
| those April showers chasing each other
in succession and visions of that flower
bed with its wealth of fragrance and
bright colors floated before his eyes.
When morning came he was up with
the lark TO take a look at that much
cherished flower bed. He saw it all right
what there was left of it-and the
seeds bad all come up. The tin con-
ductor directly overhead had parted in
the morning hours and let all the mois-
turc percolate into his flower bed.
Talk about that little rise of water
years ago when Noah sold round trip
tickets to limited number good for
this trip only it was nothing beside
the inundation which took place in that
flower garden. The hole looked like the
crater of NesuviuS. The seeds had
come up and ficated Off and a good
part of the real estate went with them.
The florist gave one long lingering
look at that hole, and being of phil
osophical turn of mind he took his castor
oil with a smile and ordered another
invoice of seeds. After waiting I'M
til the conductor had been repaired, he
got a load of loam, filled up the hole
and started in business again. This
time he got the seeds all in without
hitch and things were looking thrifty.
Between picking grubs and keeping his
tract irrigated, he had his hands full.
His old time confidence in his ability
as florist had returned and he was
anxiously looking forward to the time
when the whole ward would be per-
fume-laden from his bed. He attended
that bed as an anxious mother would
a croupy child. The last thing at night
and the first thing in the morning he
was on deck working like the man
with the hoe" and even last week he
was sure something would show UP be-
fore morning and he was no false pro-
phet.
Something did show up. One OF
neighbors Bullfoundland pups who
wanted to be real neighborly brought a
big thigh bone over that he had pur-
Joined from the butcher and finding !
that particular spot of loan the soft |
est spot on the reservation proceeded |
to make a cyclone cellar in the center |
and deposit said beef joint for further |
reference, and when the owner of that |
sweet pea bed came out in. the early |
morn and discovered that somebody |
had made a pappoose grave under his |
window, much to the detriment of his !
choice seeds, he said things that no Re
ligious Tract Society that had any re-
gard for it's good name would think of !
publishing.
He is now excavating for the third |
time. and, as previously remarked. he
is not discouraged or mad only in !
earnest, and thinks that with a rain |
shed. a night Waterman and a dog |
catcher he may be able to get few late |
blossoms by fall, and if any disinter- |
ested party should ask him what he |
values his blossoms at he will say he |
thinks about IS per blossom will be a |