25S 



THE FLORIST. 



memory to reproduce it here. This, then, was my form and stature 

 at this sta°;e of mv existence : 



But to return. I was again in bud, I blossomed, and my flowers 

 once more strewed the ground. My seed-vessels were cut off, and 

 I was left in the same house, only more air was now admitted. I 

 was watered frequently and fumigated occasionally as before ; the 

 surface of the soil in the pot was sometimes loosened, and I flowered 

 again early in June. My branches were now perfectly ripened and 

 my pot full of roots ; and as my master suggested that I should be 

 exhibited the following year, I was shifted into a larger pot in rich 

 coarse soil. I was now carried out of doors, the pot plunged half its 

 depth in the ground in a situation freely exposed to sun and air, 

 where I grew vigorously, and was ready to lay up for winter by the 

 end of October. 



Well-a-day ! None of us young pot-Roses know for what great 

 purposes we may be intended. I, an obscure cutting, destined to 

 become an Exhibition-Rose ! to bide 'neath gay and party-coloured 

 tents, to blossom in the presence of royalty ! Impossible ! yet such 

 is really the intention. A bright sunny morning gives John an 

 unusual flow of spirits, and I hear him so communicating with him- 

 self while sharpening his knife preparatory to pruning me for the 

 purpose. 



William Paul. 



