GENERAL CULTIVATION IV. lUENNIAL AND PERENNIAL FLOWERS. V. SUMMER FLOWEIMNU BULBS. VI. FLOWERING PLANTS AND VINES— ROSES. VII. FLOWERING SHRUBS. VIII. CLIMB ING AND TRAILING SHRUBS IX. FLOWERING TREES. X. EVERLASTIKG FLOWERS AND ORNA- MENTAL GRASSES. XL WATER PLANTS. XU. TRELLISES. I. The Flower Garden. |HE vegetable garden is properly the province of the master of the farm ; the flower garden is preeminently the home of feminine art and taste. However CRESTED MOSS KOSES— HAXP SIZE. small the village or city lot, flowers may smile up from it to the sun, and call down blessings from the admiring passer-by upon the fair and skillful hands that have tended them. In no place do they more improve and refine the surroundings, and show the beauty of feminine taste and culture than upon the farm. An ample lawn [447] 448 TWENTIETH CENTURY HOME COOK BOOK. studded with ornamental shrubs and trees, a ])ed cut out here and there, or a smiling parterre where those lovely gifts of nature have been taught by care and skill to bloom, till the soul with an harmonious joy. All long for the beautiful. All love flowers. But many, ignorantl}-, suppose that flowers cost so much in time and money that only the wealthy may enjoy them. They are within the easy reach of all. The common flowers are, as a rule, as beautiful as the rarer ones. Perennial flowering plants, or their seeds, once planted, remain year after year, increasing in beauty with each successive season until they arrive at their full perfection. II. How to Cultivate Flowers. The principal mistake made in the cultivation of flowers, is permitting them to be smothered while young, by weeds. Many of the common varieties, which sow themselves by their seeds, remaining in the ground dui'ing the winter, manage to make a pretty successful struggle with their enemies, the weeds, but the plants are PANSIES MOSS PINK. (PHLOX SUBULATA.) SO crowded as to detract much from their beauty. This is why, in the country, so much attention is paid to perennials, that is to say, the plants or flowers that live' from year to year. If the directions here given are followed, the cultivation of annuals will cost less labor, they will come much earlier to perfection, and be, in every respect, better than if sown in the open ground. All that is necessary is to prepare, about the time field plowing begins, a small hot-bed, as described in the chapter on Vegetable Gardening; or a cold frame (a bed covered with sashes), in which latter case, the seeds should not be sown therein, until just after the time for planting spring wheat. Having prepared the bed and put in six inches of clean, fine mold, sow the flower seeds in lines four inches apart between rows, putting down a peg marked with the name of each variety sown. When large enough to transplant, pick the plants out mto another frame, place them two inches apart, and here let them stand GARDEN FLOWERS AND SHRUBS. 44.9 until they are ready to go out of doors. Take up with earth about the roots, lay on trays, and they are easily and safely carried to where they are to grow.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

GENERAL CULTIVATION IV. lBIENNIAL AND PERENNIAL FLOWERS. V. SUMMER FLOWERING BULBS. VI. FLOWERING PLANTS AND VINES— ROSES. VII. FLOWERING SHRUBS. VIII. CLIMB ING AND TRAILING SHRUBS IX. FLOWERING TREES. X. EVERLASTIKG FLOWERS AND ORNA- MENTAL GRASSES. XL WATER PLANTS. XU. TRELLISES. I. The Flower Garden. |HE vegetable garden is properly the province of the master of the farm ; the flower garden is preeminently the home of feminine art and taste. However CRESTED MOSS KOSES— HAXP SIZE. small the village or city lot, flowers may smile up from it to the sun, and call down blessings from the admiring passer-by upon the fair and skillful hands that have tended them. In no place do they more improve and refine the surroundings, and show the beauty of feminine taste and culture than upon the farm. An ample lawn [447] studded with ornamental shrubs and trees, a ])ed cut out here and there, or a smiling parterre where those lovely gifts of nature have been taught by care and skill to bloom, till the soul with an harmonious joy. All long for the beautiful. All love flowers. But many, ignorantl}-, suppose that flowers cost so much in time and money that only the wealthy may enjoy them. They are within the easy reach of all. The common flowers are, as a rule, as beautiful as the rarer ones. Perennial flowering plants, or their seeds, once planted, remain year after year, increasing in beauty with each successive season until they arrive at their full perfection. II. How to Cultivate Flowers. The principal mistake made in the cultivation of flowers, is permitting them to be smothered while young, by weeds. Many of the common varieties, which sow themselves by their seeds, remaining in the ground dui'ing the winter, manage to make a pretty successful struggle with their enemies, the weeds, but the plants are PANSIES MOSS PINK. (PHLOX SUBULATA.) SO crowded as to detract much from their beauty. This is why, in the country, so much attention is paid to perennials, that is to say, the plants or flowers that live from year to year. If the directions here given are followed, the cultivation of annuals will cost less labor, they will come much earlier to perfection, and be, in every respect, better than if sown in the open ground. All that is necessary is to prepare, about the time field plowing begins, a small hot-bed, as described in the chapter on Vegetable Gardening; or a cold frame (a bed covered with sashes), in which latter case, the seeds should not be sown therein, until just after the time for planting spring wheat. Having prepared the bed and put in six inches of clean, fine mold, sow the flower seeds in lines four inches apart between rows, putting down a peg marked with the name of each variety sown. When large enough to transplant, pick the plants out mto another frame, place them two inches apart, and here let them stand until they are ready to go out of doors. Take up with earth about the roots, lay on trays, and they are easily and safely carried to where they are to grow.

Twentieth century home cook book