s. If you treat melon seeds as you are
directed on page 135 to treat oat seeds, the germs on the seeds will be
destroyed. By crossing the watermelon on the citron melon, a watermelon
that is resistant to wilt has recently been developed and successfully
grown in soils in which wilt is present. The new melon, inferior in
flavor at first, is being improved from season to season and bids fair
to rival other melons in flavor.

[Illustration: FIG. 95. DEWBERRIES]

SECTION XXVI. FLOWER GARDENING

The comforts and joys of life depend largely upon small things. Of these
small things perhaps none holds a position of greater importance in
country life than the adornment of the home, indoors and outdoors, with
flowers tastefully arranged. Their selection and planting furnish
pleasant recreation; their care is a pleasing employment; and each
little plant, as it sprouts and grows and develops, may become as much a
pet as creatures of the sister animal kingdom. A beautiful, well-kept
yard adds greatly to the pleasure and attractiveness of a country home.
If a beautiful yard and home give joy to the mere passer-by, how much
more must their beauty appeal to the owners. The decorating of the home
shows ambition, pride, and energy--important elements in a successful
life.

[Illustration: FIG. 96. AN EASY WAY TO BEAUTIFY THE HOME]

Plant trees and shrubs in your yard and border your masses of shrubbery
with flower-beds. Do not disfigure a lawn by placing a bed of flowers in
it. Use the flowers rather to decorate the shrubbery, and for borders
along walks, and in the corners near steps, or against foundations.

If you wish to raise flowers for the sake of flowers, not as
decorations, make the flower-beds in the back yard or at the side of the
house.

[Illustration: FIG. 97. A BACK YARD TO REFINE THE CHILDREN OF THE
FAMILY]

Plants may be grown from seeds or from bulbs or from cuttings. The
rooting of cuttings is an interesting task to all who are fond of
flowers. Those who have no greenhouse and who wish to root cuttings of
geraniums, roses, and other plants may do so in the following way. Take
a shallow pan, an old-fashioned milk pan for instance, fill it nearly
full of clean sand, and then wet the sand thoroughly. Stick the cuttings
thickly into this wet sand, set the pan in a warm, sunny window, and
keep the sand in the same water-soaked condition. Most cuttings will
root well in a few weeks and may then be set into small fl