VALLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 273 



As every rii-h. lucious fruit sutisHes n cruviiifj^ of the ]»hysieal 

 nature, so every plant and flower, l)y its graceful form and inimitable 

 color, is to satisfy a mental craving. 



The physical a))petite discovers its need first. Our mental ne- 

 cessities are so varied that we nuiy live three-score and ten years, and 

 never be conscious that we are losing the richness that is scattered 

 along our pathway. 



We cannot ex})ect to go over the whole ground of the world's 

 flora, for then it becomes an exhaustive work. 



Let the plants, flowers and trees, each day brought under our 

 observation, teach w^hat they will, receive it. 



Discoveries come unbidden: you may see a truth that Linnaeus 

 passed unheeded by. 



In our own local flora are found the same colors and forms, the 

 same laws of reproduction and growth, the same structure of cell 

 and function of parts, as are found in those of other climes. 



With similarity there is endless variation. A primal stage of 

 growth exhibits conditions that are modified or entirely changed 

 in after growth. Location and climate create dissimilarities. The 

 lessons of our own flora are long aiid interesting. 



Scattered over the ]irairies of the west are many species of 

 plants worthy of cultivation. If reports of the pioneers be true, 

 many of them, which once flourished in wild profusion, have disap- 

 peared entirely, or can only be found occasionally. If no one has 

 made an effort to preserve those species it is now time to begin. 



A few of our prairie flowers are now cultivated in the east, and 

 the seed of fome species that almost rank as weeds here, are sold in 

 large quanties in Europe. 



Cassia Clnnnarrisfa, that grows along our roadside in abund- 

 ance, its black-centered yellow blossom, almost unheeded by us, is 

 considered choice in Germany. 



Right here is where some of our good foreign friends who come 

 over to l)ecome American citizens overreach themselves. A German 

 friend of mine, thinking nothing so good as that which had the fra- 

 grance of the Fatherland sticking to it, sent across the sea for his 

 flower seeds; being ignorant of our native flora, he included in his 

 list some of our native species, which might have been gathered at 

 his own door. Among others he sent for " Cassia, choice or mixed." 

 He gave u\*' some of the seed saying they were very choice. "I gets 

 them from rfhermauy." I jjlanted them and watered and v;atclied 

 them with that delightful uncertainty that always clings to the 

 "new and very choice." As they grew I recognized them as old ac- 

 (juaintances. They bloomed, and behold they were Cassia Chama'- 

 crisfa. 



Dodecatheon, another Maine flower of merit, is cultivated in the 

 east. I see no reason why this flower cannot.be forced as well as 



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