The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-05-22

able one. She never allowed herself
to give up or go back for moment.
but studied, worked and loved her
plants with unceasing devotion. The
matter of hybridizing claimed her at
tention very early in her work, and her
patient efforts in this line have brought
her the great reward of success in
what she has undertaken. Mrs. Shep-
herd is a woman OF peculiarly delight
full and unusual personality. She is a
believer In the theory that thought
forces govern all our actions. and she
claims that as the dominating power
of her success. Her tall, slender fig
ure and delicate appearance produces
the impression of an embodied spirit
triumphant over material things, but
it is this very governing spirit which
gives this woman her remarkable en-
ergy and her power of patient endur-
ance in her work. Mrs. Shepherd
goes so far as to claim that her acute
perception feels the needs of her
flowers, and that she knows what they
want as a mother knows the express
ed wishes of her children. She thinks
the flower has a will of its own to be
beautiful, or bad and ugly. and sne
unites her thought forces with the
aspiration of the flower that is tend
ing toward its own betterment until
a material result is obtained in the
changed and improved appearance OF
her pet In my mind" Mrs. Shepherd
says, are thought patterns. Nature
secures them and gives them back to
me in things of finished construction.
| hope | shall live to bring into man
Hesitation all my flower Dreams Mrs.
Shepherd further believes that what
ever you have in mind as your flower
ideal can be made real as the blossom
of the plant you are trying to improve.
Study the tendency of the flower and
add your own thought forces to the
patient care you give it until the result
you wish is attained. Plants must
have a home and love and care, Mrs.
Shepherd thinks, just the same as hu
man beings. 1t draws it's food supply
from the earth through its roots;
through it's leaves 1t absorbs air and
moisture and the chemicals that the
sun sends to assist In making its rich
and varied color. No one should ex-
pect a plant to thrive, simply because
1t has been bought and set as an or
nament in the house or in the yard.
In addition to the oxygen and sunshine
they need loving consideration and
kind and gentle attention. They
should have just the right amount OF
water and all the space that their
roots need to develop themselves. They
cannot bear to be choked up and shut
off from their natural element any
more than human flower under SIM
liar conditions.
"To make a living by hybridizing
alone would be out of the question.
is Mrs. Shepherds experience. though
the rewards paid for desirable new
specimens are phenomenal, like S2500
for the stock of dwarf white cupid
sweet pea paid to G. G. Morse, of San
ia Barbara, California, by well
known seed grower, who also paid, at
another time $500 for 1850 seeds of
the pink cupid sweet pea from the
same grower; and we all know of the
famous price of $25,000 paid for the
stock of the Lawson pink. Still those
are only the occasional triumphs after
years of labor and patient work. So
1t is much better to depend for an in
come upon some branch of the work
that brings in steady returns.
"0ne of Mrs. Shepherds regular
sources of income is the raising OF
rhubarb. From one acre of a superior
variety of this plant Mrs. Shepherd
has produced as much as $4,000 pounds
in six months. which brought her in
$500. The best of 1t Is that she rec
ommends the crop as source of in
come for the average woman who has
a plot of ground big enough for it's cul-
tivation. 1t is quick to grow, hardy
and needing SO little care that the bus
lest woman could find time to tend -
and prepare it for market at the pro-
er season. Every housekeeper knows
that it is valuable addition to the
stock of things that may be used for
pies, pudding and sauces.
Mrs. Shepherd finds her greatest
financial returns from the regular rou-
tine of her business as a grower OF
plants and flowers. but her greatest
delight and what she feels to be her
greatest real successes, are the dar-
ling ideals she has brought forth into
the plant world by patient study and
continued effort united with that de-
termined thought power in which she
SO thoroughly believes What you
will to do you can accomplish, is tns
strongest plank in Mrs. Shepherds
platform Of success. Let the strong,