A lady in South Carolina sends us the following letter. Though addressed to us in our public capacity as Editor of a Magazine, it is not clear that it was meant for publication; but as a reply may be of service to others as well as the writer, we give it a place here, only suppressing the name and address of the writer :

"Editor Gardeners' Monthly: I am emboldened in writing this to you, from an intuitive feeling that it would result in a kindly hearing from you; and, I hope, a pecuniary help to me. I am ' only a woman,' but one reared in the lap of luxury, before and since the war, but now feel it a duty to try to help my husband, if I can, to educate and rear five children; and one avenue which I had hoped would be a means to this end, proves very unsatisfactory to me. I will explain. Our beautiful Southern woods and fields are filled with plants and bulbs, much prized by the citizens of the Northern States; notably a bulb - advertised as Amaryllis Treatae - but known here as Atamasco Lily. I saw it extensively advertised in a great many catalogues for from 8 cents to 15 cents per bulb, and gathered for the last three seasons thousands of bulbs, and can get no better price, wholesale, than 1 cent, and not always that, per bulb; and I write to ask you if you think if I advertised it in your Gardeners' Monthly it would bring me in any more.

I am ' to fame unknown,' and after writing hundreds of letters, 1 have not yet made the salt that goes in my own bread, much less my children's. The bulbs I have sold, if retailed at catalogue prices, would have realized me $375.00, whereas they really brought me in $54.00, giving the florist a margin of $221.00, as his part of the profits. Of course I do not expect or wish to reap all, but if I could have even got half I would have remained quiescent and still continued to try to supply florists alone with them.

What I wish is this, to ascertain price to insert an attractive advertisement for two, three, or four months - whichever you advise - and see if I cannot realize the profits myself. I have thousands of Narcissus, which I see by my flori-cultural papers is the future's favorite, to dispose of. I am in correspondence with several florists for them, but because the bulbs are larger and finer than those they import, they mistrust the plant altogether. One of the Narcissus, advertised under various names - Uaffodill, Hoop Petticoat, Sulphur Trumpet, and we here call them Buttercups, Candlesticks, Cups and Saucers, Shepherd's Pipe etc. - I think is the Narcissus advertised as Bulbocodium at 25 cents per bulb, but cannot be certain until some sent me from the North bloom, and I can compare them. You cannot realize that here in the South we border our vegetable beds with them, to keep them in shape; and when once planted they go on increasing until they encroach to such an extent that we have to plough them up as a nuisance. Of course then you will not wonder at my having 10,000 bulbs to sell, and desiring to realize a handsome profit on them and not allow myself only a beggar's portion.

Could you kindly give me any idea of my best plan to throw these on the market, and at what time? I feel I am almost inexcusable for thus transgressing your time, but my excuse is above; knowing by the reputation you have gained, that you are willing to help the struggling, and those anxious to help themselves".

It is a natural mistake by those unacquainted with the nurseryman or seedsman's business, that $221.00 represents the part of the profits in a purchase of $375.00. If he were engaged in this business wholly, and took with one hand $54.00 worth, and received directly $375.00 with the other, it would not be correct; as he would probably have had to take a great deal of trouble and cost to find the customers for the article. But the receipts from the bulbs have to go into the general fund, and against this fund a large number of expenses have to be charged. We know one large firm that spends in advertising, or has spent in one year for advertising, $100,000. This of course includes catalogues, cuts, label printing, and such like. There are store rents, wages, commissions to other dealers, bad debts, and numerous other items which run into the expense account, besides the firm's own many years of experience and time to be paid for; and besides all this, he deals in a perishable article, which if not sold has to be thrown on the rubbish pile, though bought and paid for.

The writer of this well remembers seeing a letter written by one friend to another who had been always buying bulbs; it was in 1859: "We are not buying bulbs this year, we want bullets;" and over$1,000 of Dutch bulbs were thrown on the manure heap, from similar failures to sell that season. It is not always that war prevents sale, but some other accident is continually arising. We very much doubt whether at the prices named by our correspondent the buyer would make more than fifteen per cent, on his purchase; which is just about what our correspondent made.

We do not think she would do any better, or even so well, by advertising directly for retail customers in the advertising columns of the Gardeners' Monthly. Advertising is a great art, understood only by those well in business. The hap-hazard advertiser seldom makes it pay.

The best course for our correspondent is to continue in correspondence with leading firms, who may possibly need what she can supply, and she need only offer to supply those things which she can get easily, and thus afford to sell at the price that competitors for her products are willing to pay. In this way she will find out those who want them worst, and those who want them worst will be willing to pay the most. This is the underlying principle in all successful business.