land of ours. The Nelson Carnation must become well known to every grower having any ambition at all to grow the best. I induced several dealers in the East and in the West to catalog it, to put it in the hands of their salesmen; in a word, there was nothing left undone in so far as my end of the work was concerned. As a consequence, long before a Carnation cutting was put in the bench, I had thousands upon thousands sold. I was making money so fast and furiously that I was simply overwhelmed with the enormity of my "great fortune"—wasn't I literally making money while I slept? If Henry F. Michell, J. C. Vaughan, or Henry A. Dreer, sold E. A. Nelson cuttings, didn't that mean so much money in my pocket?
Yes, just think how tempting and alluring it is to count your fortune before it actually materializes! The very thought of its possibility is irresistible. We allow ourselves all sorts of luxuries spending it in our imagination, and perhaps that gives us almost as much pleasure as spending it in reality!
Every order booked I forwarded at once to Mr. Nelson, accompanying each order with roseate and most optimistic letters. I never neglected to remind him of the great fortune in store for us both. The enthusiasm I acquired became contagious; for Mr. Nelson himself became quite enthusiastic over his prospects, so much so, in fact, that on the fortune to come a year hence he contracted to build a range of Rose houses which he was anxious to finish that very Fall.
But this undertaking was the unsuspected rock that wrecked our glowing hopes. In the Spring of 1890 the Carnation show was to take place in Indianapolis. Aside from the quantity already sold I expected that many more thousands would be booked right at the show when the growers assembled there would go out to Mr. Nelson's place and see the variety for themselves. But alas, things took a different turn, much to our discomfiture and financial loss. The first intimation I had of Mr. Nelson's failure with the variety was in December, 1899, when Mr. Albert M. Herr wrote me a pointed though friendly letter, intimating that there was something wrong with the "E. A. Nelson," that in the first place he had received but a small part of his order, and in the second the cuttings received were of a very inferior quality, being infected with fungus, weak and altogether worthless. A similar letter soon reached me from another source. I was then in Pittsfield, Mass., intending to make my New England trip in time to go West and reach Indianapolis during the week of the Carnation show convention. I felt too uneasy, however, to delay investigating conditions with the Carnation. I spoke about my troubles to John White, the old-time florist of Pittsfield. He suggested to me that my place in the circumstances was in Indianapolis, not in Pittsfield. I acted upon his suggestion, and boarded a train direct for Indianapolis.
Nelson Carnation Fails to Root
I arrived there the evening of the following day, too late to see Mr. Nelson. It was a worried and sleepless night for me. I had forebodings that things were going wrong, that not only had my anticipated fortune melted away, but my chances for doing business for the future were being impaired. I had backed this thing so warmly; and I was afraid that growers who had bought on my recommendation would doubt my judgment and my representations in the future.
The following morning, bright and early, I went out to see Mr. Nelson. My appearance seemed to strike him with something like fear; he stammered something or other, evidently greatly confused. I tried to relieve the situation by diverting the subject to other things, but I finally came to the point.
"What was the trouble?" I asked.
He broke down, and cried like a child.
"The blamed thing wouldn't root," he said. "I can't account for it. I gave
