INDIVIDUALITY OF FLOWERS. 161 



Many otlier songs and singers I enjoyed in 

 those pleasant mornings beside the river, till 

 the hour for what Thoreau designates as " that 

 whirlpool called a dinner " drew near, and then, 

 unmindful of the philosopher's advice, I started 

 slowly homeward, collecting as I went, materials 

 to fill the vases in my room. 



In gathering flowers, one needs to select with 

 discretion, for they, no less than their winged 

 neighbors in the pasture, have an individuality 

 of their own. The wild rose, for example, is 

 most amiable in lending itself to our enjoyment. 

 Not only does it submit to being torn from the 

 parental stem, but it will flourish perfectly, and 

 go on opening bud after bud, so long as it has 

 one to open, as lovely and as fragrant as its sis- 

 ters on the bush. One needs only to snip off 

 the heads whose petals have dropped, to have a 

 fresh and beautiful bowl of roses every morning. 

 The daisy too adorns our tables and our vases 

 cheerfully, and as long as if it still stood among 

 the grasses, its feet planted in mother earth ; 

 and even when it has lived out its allotted time, 

 it neither withers nor droops, but begins to look 

 wild, its, petals losing their trim regularity and 

 standing every way. 



Different indeed is the disposition of the 

 goldenrod, which, though remaining fresh and 

 bright, when called upon to decorate our homes, 



