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The Horticulturist and Journal 



" Though in heaven the trees 

 Of life, ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines 

 Yield nectar ; though from off the boughs, each 



morn 

 We brush mellifluous dews ; yet God hath here 

 Varied his bounty so with new delights, 

 As may compare with heaven." 



In no department of cultivation is im- 

 provement of taste to be more distinctly seen, 

 than in the decoration of our grounds and 

 the universal love of trees and plants. Many 

 of your readers can remember the time when 

 there were but few greenhouses in our coun- 

 try. Now, conservatories and other plant 

 structures are to be seen in almost all our 

 populous towns and villages, and so much has 

 the taste and demand for plants and flowers 

 increased, that many are devoted to special 

 culture of the rose, the violet, or some other 

 plant. Nor is this taste confined to the rich 

 or middling class. Now almost every dwell- 

 ing has its grape-vine or fi*uit-tree, its wood- 

 l>ine, scarlet-runner or morning-glory. Even 

 window-gardening has become a science, and 

 few are so poor that their homes may not be 

 lit up with the cheering influence of plant or 

 flower, and their windows become more hal- 

 lowed by the sweet influences of nature's 

 bloom, than by the gaudy pageant-pane which 

 perpetuates the name of a saint, — perhaps a 

 sinner too. 3Iy heart has often been touched 

 with tenderness and sympathy, when I have 

 seen the poor laborer, after a hard day's work, 

 carrying under his arm a rose or geranium, to 

 cheer and solace the wife and weans at home. 

 These are the outer manifestations of the de- 

 sires of the soul for that fairer and better 

 clime where flowers shall never fade — the 

 secret yearnings for that paradise beyond the 

 skies which shall never be lost again. 



Flowers are the embodiment of beauty ; 

 flowers are like angel spirits ministering to the 

 finest sensibilities of our nature, often inspir- 

 ing us with thoughts, which, like the unex- 

 pressed prayer, lie too deep for utterance. 

 God speaks by flowers and plants and trees, 

 as well as by the lips of his jjrophets and 

 priests. So felt Bacon, who desired always 

 to have flowers before him when exploring the 

 mysteries of that divine philosophy which has 



made his name immortal. Flowers have a 

 language, and like the starry firmament above, 

 proclaim his handiwork and glory. God has 

 imprinted a language on every leaf that flut- 

 ters in the breeze, on every flower that unfolds 

 its virgin bosom to the sun, teaching us the 

 great lesson of his wisdom, perfection and 

 glory. How beautifully does the English 

 bard express this sentiment, — 

 '' Your voiceless lips, Uowers. are living [ireacli- 

 ers ; 

 Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book." 



Who would not listen to their teachings ! 

 who would not live with them forever ! How 

 intimately do they enter into our joys and 

 affections! With what tenderness does 3Iilton 

 describe the sorrow of our mother Eve Avhen 

 bidding farewell to her flowers in Eden, — 



" flowers 

 That never will in other climate grow, 

 My early visitation and my la.st 

 At even, Avhich I bred up with tender hand 

 From the first opening bud, and gave ye names ; 

 Who now shall rear ye to the sun, or rank 

 Your tribes, and water from the ambrosial fount ? " 



The refining and chastening influence of 

 woman, which so signally characterizes the 

 progress of civilization, is especially to be 

 seen in her love for the cultivation of fruits 

 and flowers, and the adornment of " sweet 

 home." It is but a few years since woman 

 was permitted to grace the festive board of our 

 agricultural and horticultural exhibitions. 

 Now, no occasion of this kind is deemed 

 complete without her presence. Formerly our 

 tables were surrounded only with the stalks of 

 humanity ; now, they are adorned with the 

 flowers of female loveliness, not " born to 

 blush unseen." Nor is this all; she is now 

 among our most successful cultivators, train- 

 ing with tenderness and care plants as delicate 

 as her own person. Welcome woman, then, 

 we say, to these festal occasions, to the 

 grounds we cultivate, to our gardens and 

 greenhouses, to all the beauties of nature and 

 the pleasures of art, and to a paradise regained 

 on earth. 



Another strong evidence of the progress of 

 refined taste and culture is seen in the estab- 

 lishment of our cemeteries, and the improve- 



