SUMMER MEETING. 15 



And a gentle ministration in the hour of sorrow comes from the treasured 

 plante, be they many or few, the friends of years or the brilliant annuals respond- 

 ing so promptly to nature's caressing beams and showers. Every leaf is a re- 

 minder of Him whose wondrous power has formed and fashioned it, and in its 

 unfolding is betokened the coming forth with vigor of the renewed life, renewed 

 and strengthened by divine power. 



Each flower of varied hue speaks of the skillful fashioner who transplants our 

 loved ones to bloom on eternity's shore, and to all comes the lesson of dependence 

 and trust in a higher power; for guard and nourish as one may, no hand-book 

 can insure perfect success, no dissertation account for frequent failures. For it is 

 no less true of the vegetable than the spiritual kingdom, that Paul may plant 

 and Apollos water, only God can give the increase. 



INor need one be a botanist, in order to derive pleasure and proflt from the 

 care of plants. While the knowledge of their properties and peculiarities may 

 deepen the interest for many, the tired housewife or the toil-worn seamstress can 

 joyfully inhale the fragrance of the sweet violet, or lovingly admire the gorgeous 

 geranium, without caring whether they be exogens or endogens. But I fancy 

 some utilitarian may say, who has time to waste on flowers when there are so 

 many duties to absorb it all ? But the fragments of time will suffice ; the moments 

 that would otherwise be spent bewailing a hard lot, or uncongenial tasks, are bet- 

 ter employed in ministering to these uncomplaining friends : and the words of 

 gossip or criticism are unspoken while the curiosity expends itself in examina- 

 tion and comparison of floral treasures. 



There may be blundering along this line as in any field of divertisement, or 

 of labor ; sometimes the spirit of greed is indulged unduly, and a longing for every 

 new variety of plant, if gratified, even without expense, by obtaining slips and 

 exchanging seeds, brings about an "embarrassment of riches" that neutralizes its 

 own benefits ; and what was pleasure and proflt becomes a burden and a bore, just 

 as with a very large circle of acquaintances we would know but little concerning 

 most of them, nor be greatly attached to any of them. With all the accumulated 

 wisdom that is formulated in directions for the culture of flowers, the beginner 

 need not broadly err, but there is danger of overdoing the work, and permitting 

 the few plants that are to be a solace and a comfort to be the recipients of so many 

 attentions that they languish, dissatisfied, as an over-indulged child. As with the 

 children so it is with our favorite flowers, they are often best aided by a little 

 "judicious letting alone." 



God's world is grand and beautiful, and wheresoever we bring ourselves in 

 communion with nature, and subject ourselves to her silent influences, we are 

 strengthened and ennobled ; and if we may not wander far amid scenes of grand- 

 eur, nor view with rapture the wonderful results of man's eflbrts in;the floral field, 

 nor even tread our own richly decked ' 'banks and braes," we may gather to our- 

 selves a few favorites, and w atching the ever-changing growth and reproduction, 

 find strengthened faith in the loving care of Him who even '"clothes the lilies of 

 the field." 



THEFLOWER GARDEN. 



MRS. W. H. BASS, COLUMBIA. 



Your worthy President has asked me to read on this occasion something on 

 floriculture, and I reluctantly consented to do so. I have never, in all my life, 

 tried to let my thoughts run down my pencil point on this my favorite subject, or 

 indeed on any other subject, intended for the public ear. Should you ask me 

 when my love for flowers began, I could not tell you, for I really believe it was my 



