Winter Meeting. 155- 



perishable habitation, it shall be transplanted to those everlasting 

 gardens. They received the homage of the admiring crowd with- 

 out vanity and they won all hearts with the unstudied grace of sim- 

 plicity, bestowing smiles of equal warmth upon all. Thus- flowers 

 seem appointed to be our comforters in all the changing scenes of 

 life. 



It is a great pleasure to be able to attend these meetings where 

 we may compare notes, and learn to grow these silent teachers. 



Nothing has so retarded human happiness as the inability o*" 

 man to appreciate this world. Every great poet, every great thinker, 

 every great moralist has urged humanity to unveil more moral beauty 

 and to dig out of the fertile ground more mental happiness. 



Lord Bacon said "wh}- do you not develop your world? .The 

 poets all say "why do you not walk upon greener grass and among 

 sweeter flowers?" Do your feet prefer thorns? The musicians say 

 "why do you not weave out of life a better song?" 



So let us keep up the study. Botanica,lly speaking, a bulb is an 

 underground stem, and though generally considered a roat, partakes 

 more of the nature of a seed. 



When planted, it sends forth roots into the earth, and an ascend- 

 ing shoot to the upper air, as a seed does in vegetation; and as in 

 the case of a seed, the young plant is nourished by the starchy matter- 

 contained in the bulb, in the same manner as by that stored in the 

 seed. 



The period required to perfect this process, or, in gardeners- 

 language, to make the bulb "strong enough to bloom," is widely dif- 

 ferent in different species, and even varies much in the same species 

 according to mode of growth and favorable or unfavorable circum- 

 stances. - In all bulbs, tubers, and fleshy root-stalks, this nutriment 

 is laid up in the earth, and the leaves mostly die annually, or take a 

 season of rest ; hence we see the pertinence and force of the old gar- 

 deners adage, "fine flowers, large leaves," as, without a full development 

 of foliage, it is useless to expect a perfection of bloom. Were the 

 leaves of a bulb to be cut oft" as fast as they appear, the bulb would 

 perish ; therefore if we would allow them their full action for the per- 

 fection of the bulb, the}^ should never be cut off until they begin to 

 turn brown and wither, which is a sure sign the circulation of the 

 sap has ceased and then they will readil}^ come away from the bulb. 



Bulbs which flowers in early spring, such as crocus, Persian iris, 

 snowdrop, tulip and hyacinth, rest from June or July until October, 

 when their roots begin to grow ; but the leaves do not appear until 

 the next spring. Lilies go to rest immediately after flowering and 



