The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-22

produce stronger and more beautiful
blossoms than those planted late in
warm ground and forced to develop
their roots quickly. They planted their
bulbs in the ground i'll the middle OF
November, in a soil which was rich
but also sandy. They placed hya-
clnths six or eight inches apart and
four inches deep, tulips the same dis
tance apart, but not quite so deep, and
Jonquils and narcissus four inches
apart and four inches deep.
By the middle of November the
winters chill had not penetrated the
ground, and when these bulbs were in.
and the top of the ground covered
with sand and leaves to keep out heat
and cold alike, the actual work was
done. But the hardest part for the
children was the waiting. During the
last winter days, when their impatience
became almost unbearable, and the
planting of each child's own garden
was completed to the smallest detail,
and all seeds purchased, some kind
soul, who loved both flowers and chill
dren, suggested saucer propagation to
them.
A visit to a neighboring florist was
followed by the annexing of all the
odd saucers and soup plates in the
house. These were filled with sand
to the depth of an inch or so, and
then the carefully prepared cuttings
secured from the florist were stuck
into the sand quite close together.
The southern windows of the nursery
were filled with them. Verbenas,
heliOtrOpe and fuchsias, it was found
would root in little more than A
weeks time, but rose cuttings and
aZaleas much longer-from three to
four weeks.
The florists instructions were that,
until these cuttings were well rooted,
the sand must be kept entirely wet
and in the condition of mud When
the roofing had taken place, the little
plants must be potted and treated
with great care, shaded and watered
All Of this served to interest the
young gardeners deeply, and the time
soon came when the crocuses and
tulips and hyacinths pushed up their
delicate green spears of foliage from
the brown earth.
The early spring days were busy
ones. Each child spaded and raked
and prepared the soil in the individual
gardens, and they all worked together
over the house garden" as it was
called. A portion of each small gar
den was devoted to a favorite flower
and to the saucer-grown cuttings,
while in another section radishes, let
tuce, young onions and delicate herbs
were planted All was done in care
full accordance with the printed direc-
tlOns on the seed packets or in the
florists catalogue. The least fertile
and unshaded part of the yard was
taken up by the gardener whose chief
enthusiasm was for the brilliant and
hardy little many-colored verbenas.
Another had ferns and violets and
pansies, and in the same garden some
young rose cuttings were set on the
sunny side of the square space. Mar
guerites and sweet peas found favor
in the remaining garden, and flourish
ed and grew and blossomed
The stock in bloom in the common
garden surpassed, however, every
thing else and fulfilled their highest
hopes. Such exquisite shades, such
hardy stalks, such gray-green foliage
and delicate fragrance were almost
more than they had dared to expect.
The second picture shows a beauti-
full arrangement of some of the stock
blossoms in a great bowl set upon the
veranda table.