FLOWERS FOR THE MILLION*. 



419 



smooth, and free from knots or irregulari- 

 ties; uniform in shape. Skin — dark green 

 when picked, changing to pale yellow when 

 ripe. Stem — rather more than an inch 

 long, not deeply set, in a cavity which is 

 rather highest on one side. Calyx — small, 

 closed, set in a narrow basin. Flesh — 

 white, free from grit, melting, fine, buttery, 

 sugary, relieved by a slight acid. Fla- 

 vor — pleasant. 



The pear is but little known in this vi- 



cinity, though the owner of the original 

 tree informs me it was grown from seed 

 brought from Connecticut more than forty 

 years since, and has produced fruit a great 

 number of years. I have not put the above 

 in form for publication ; but have, in a 

 rather hasty manner, presented you with 

 such facts as have occurred to me in re- 

 gard to the pear, which you are at libery 

 to use as you may think proper. Very sin- 

 cerely yours. J. C. Hastings. 



FLOWERS FOR THE MILLION. 



BY T. S. GOLD. CREAM HILL, COXX. 



Dear Sir — It is one of the objects of your 

 journal (and it ought to be a prominent one) 

 to diffuse a taste for, and a knowledge of 

 those beautiful and hardy plants, which 

 must ever be the flowers for the great mass 

 of our people. It being altogether beneath 

 the notice of those who can indulge in their 

 green-houses, and by the aid of professional \ 

 gardeners enjoy plants which may be too 

 delicate for general cultivation, I have 

 thought that a few lines from one who has 

 not reached that pitch of refinement, yet 

 does admire the luxuriant productions of 

 Flora, which in their season may be enjoy- 

 ed by all, at a cost so small as to need no 

 consideration, would be acceptable to many 

 of your readers. 



Young persons are almost universally 

 fond of flowers, and would continue so, 

 were not this taste checked by many re- 

 buffs ; among these, since they often receive 

 no aid from older persons, is the difficulty 

 of obtaining new varieties of flowers, as 

 many of those in common cultivation are 

 really unworthy of the place they hold. 

 Perchance some city friend sends them a 

 package of seeds from a seed-store, or, 



obtaining a catalogue, they attempt, from 

 what they suppose to be all grain, to select 

 some wheat. At length the seeds are sown 

 with much hope, but one half do not vege- 

 tate, or they come up so delicately that they 

 are overlooked, and but a small portion of 

 the remainder reward the grower by their 

 thrift and beauty. This difficulty would 

 be obviated if our seedsmen would confine 

 themselves to really fine varieties, or at 

 least make them prominent in their list. 

 Thousands of the wives and daughters of 

 our farmers, and others in the coun:ry have 

 really a taste for these beauties of nature, 

 which but ne*eds to be awakened and in- 

 structed, to cause the cottager's little plot 

 of ground, as well as the precincts of the 

 farm-house to glow with the beauty and 

 brilliance of the costly parterre. 



To aid in so good a cause, which should 

 receive the support of every lover of the 

 country, and especially of our country, I 

 propose to give a short list (by no means 

 complete) of those hardy flowering annu- 

 als suited to this locality, which I have my- 

 self cultivated, with a brief description of 

 their character and appearance. Soil and 



