[1880, 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



291 



leaf, every droop of a stem, is its own and has no 

 fellow. The waves of the ocean, the clouds of 

 the air, the fleeting expressions on a human face, 

 are not more varied than are the colors and 

 forms of plants and flowers. 



With her own speaking eyes and lips let her 

 tell this to her charmed listener ; let her de- 

 scribe to him how great a pleasure it would be 

 to her, on parting from him each morning, to 

 go to a flower market which he has assisted to 

 build, and there to feast on the gathered treas- 

 ures, bringing home with her all she needs to 

 give a charm and fragrace to her diningtable or 

 drawing-room. While she is speaking, his eyes 

 may prefer to dwell upon her face, but let 

 her direct their attention to the check-book 

 at his elbow and suggest that the check for 

 ten thousand dollars be made payable to the 

 treasurer of the New York Horticultural Society. 

 Here would lie her legitimate influence ; why 

 should she not exert it ? 



Woman has always been the patroness of hor- 

 ticulture. * 



In the beginning of the world all things were 

 pronounced good, and among them was a gar- 

 den. Man was placed in it to care for and to 

 dress it. He soon found that for this, as well as 

 for many other things, he needed more taste and 

 a finer sense than any he possessed ; so woman 

 was given him as a help-meet for him. May 

 we not suppose that this was in an especial 

 manner horticultural help? 



Among all the pictures which imagination 

 paints upon the human brain, I think there is 

 none which has a greater charm than that of 

 our first mother, with her graceful form and 

 perfect face, illumined with the soul which had 

 come direct from the Almighty, wandering in 

 the garden which we may well suppose to 

 have been the most beautiful ever known, be- 

 cause in it grew, as the Scriptures tell us, "every 

 tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for 

 food." Under her skillful hands, divinely guided, 

 every plant flourished, every tree developed its 

 most graceful forms. She walked over the 

 yielding turf, by the side of the running brooks, 

 and sportively wreathing on her hair or gather- 

 ing irv her hands the varied flowers whose fra- 

 grance burdened the perfect air, she wondered 

 if any other being had been created for such 

 enjoyment as was now her daily lot. 



So she appeared, until that sad day when she 

 made her first pomological experiment, and, 

 frightened at the result, hid herself among the 



trees of the garden, from which she came out to 

 minister, through her descendants in the coming 

 ages, to the unfortunate admiration of man for 

 millinery. 



As the ages have passed woman has been grad- 

 ually arousingherself from this thraldom. May we 

 not ask her now to throw it ofi" entirely, to go 

 back to the old love which our mother had for 

 her garden, to show that she is a true daughter 

 by every means at her command, and to encour- 

 age, as one of her instruments, the New York 

 Horticultural Society? 



In the short time that I have allowed myself 

 to-day, I cannot go over the whole field of ancient 

 and modern biography, to show the connection 

 of woman with horticulture. It is apparent in 

 Grecian history and mythology, in the latter es- 

 pecially, because the mythology of a people is 

 the outgrowth of their daily life. 



In the garden of Hesperides was found the 

 golden apple which Atalanta's lover threw. 

 Daphne, in her flight was changed into the beau- 

 tiful shrub which bears her name, and recalls 

 her memory by its fragrance and beauty. With 

 the hanging gardens of Babylon, Xenophon has 

 made us familiar. Their unique magnificence 

 has not since been equaled. Their builder was 

 Semiramis, and, I am sorry to say, that her true 

 love for flowers did not prevent her seeking for 

 the most certain mode of divorcement in killmg 

 her husband. 



We have so little record of the pursuits of 

 women in early days, that we scarcely know of 

 their devotion to any one interest. It is not to 

 be doubted, however, that noted women, like the 

 queen of Sheba, Zenobia, Cleopatra, and others, 

 in their effort to surround themselves with every- 

 thing beautiful, gave a true place to plants and 

 flowers. Coming down to a later period, we find 

 that in the sixth century, Ultrogothe, the first wife 

 of the first king of Paris, was devoted to her gar- 

 dens. They were worthy of the splendor of her pal- 

 ace, and the roses in them were especially famous. 

 Equally noted were those of Galiana, the favo- 

 rite daughter of King Galafr6, near Toledo in 

 Spain. At a later period there were gardens of 

 great beauty at Sceaux, made by a duchess. 



The Grand Trianon at Versailles, built by 

 Louis XIV., was the favorite garden of Madame 

 de Maintenon ; and the Petit Trianon, in its 

 walks and groves, witnessed the enjoyment of 

 that unfortunate queen, Marie Antoinette. 



At the end of the eighteenth century, the Em- 

 press Catharine of Prussia was a liberal patro- 



