"The production of flowers by our nurserymen is simply a matter of business, and but little art is required in the pursuit. The art of flower-raising, of which we often hear, is more the result of the gardener's genins than inherent to his calling. It is the design of the parterre, or flower garden, in the massing and arranging of plants according to their relations of color, which exemplifies art, rather than the production. In the raising of flowers, beauty of form, size and variety of color are sought after, and it is the gardener's aim to secure these features in his plants.

Probably the greatest variety of plants has been raised from seed; and this property of reproducing almost countless varieties of flowers from the seeds of one plant is possessed by almost every flowering shrub. That is to say, the flowers may be of the same variety, but they will be differently marked. This is particularly the case with the gladiolus. Twenty years ago there were only six or seven varieties of the gladiolus known. Now there are over one thousand distinct varieties, and all have been raised from six or seven original flowers, and the number is increased every season. The pure white gladiolus originally came from the Cape of Good Hope; but it was a small flower, and at its introduction, ten years ago, was not much thought of; by careful cultivation, however, it has become one of the choicest flowers of the field and garden.