322 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



They bring the voices we shall hear no more. 



Whose tones are sweetest music to our ears; 

 They bring the hopes that faded one by one, 



Till naught was left to light our path but faith 

 That we too, like the flowers, should spring to life, 



But not, like them, e'er fade again or die. 



From time immemorial, in almost every nation under the sun, 

 flowers have been adopted as symbols, types and emblems of honor, 

 affection and loyalty. 



The patriot's crown was made of oak ; the poet's of bay ; and the 

 myrtle was wreathed into a garland of beauty. The olive branch has 

 ever been the emblem of peace, and the ivy the emblem of Bacchus. 

 The special flower of the Hindoo is the marigold ; that of the Assyrian, 

 the spotless water-lily. The Egyptians have a keen appreciation of 

 fragance, and find it in the delicate but heavily scented heliotrope. 



England's national flower is the rose, and no student of history 

 has failed to read with interest the description of the wars of the Roses, 

 and join with Wordsworth in his rejoicing over the union of the houses 

 of Lancaster and York, as expressed in these lines : 



Both roses flourish, red and white. 

 In love and sisterly delight; 

 The two that were at strife are blended. 

 And all old troubles now are ended. 



The fleur de lis adorns the royal banner of France ; but the 

 almond-eyed Chinese delights in the chrysanthemum. The emblem of 

 Scotland is the thistle, and that of Ireland the shamrock; while the 

 stately golden-rod bids fair to be the national flower of our own beloved 

 country. 



How often the sight of some loved flower takes us back in imagi- 

 nation to the old country garden which was the grandmother's delight; 

 or its fragrant breath reminds us of a joyous past ; perhaps it speaks 

 of some loved one who has been laid to rest — a silent link between us 

 and the beautiful beyond. 



Knowing the gentle influence which flowers have over us, let us 

 endeavor to send these fragile yet potent missionaries to all our fellow- 

 creatures who are deprived of them. The delicate floweret will, per- 

 chance, touch a tender chord in some rough nature, the very existence 

 of which is unsuspected. 



Think what pleasure flowers bring to those who, in the continuous 

 pursuit of bread, have no time to pluck them for themselves ; and 

 imagine, you who do not know, how flowers are prized by the inmates 

 of the hospitals, as they lie on their white beds with nothing to engage 

 their thoughts but their own suffering. 



