36 ON THE CULTURE OF BELLIS PEKENNIS, &C. 



adorned, and the Wild Daisy has often been the theme of hi* 

 praise. How beautifully has Montgomery described this pretty 

 little flower : — 



There is a flower, a little flower, 



With silver crest and golden eye, 

 That welcomes every changing hour, 



And weathers every sky. 



The prouder beauties of the Held 



In gay but quick succession shine ; 

 Race after race their honours yield, 



Thev flourish and decline. 



But this small flower, to nature dear, 



While moon and stars their courses run, 

 Wreathes the whole circle of the year, 



Companion of the sun. 



It smiles upon the lap of May ; 



To sultry August spreads its charms; 

 Lights pale October on his way, 



And twines December's arms. 



The purple heath, and golden broom, 



On moory mountains catch the gale ; 

 O'er lawns the lily sheds perfume, 



The violet in the vale. 



But this bold flow'ret climbs the hill, 



Hides in the forest, haunts the glen, 

 Plays on the margin of the rill, 



Peeps round the fox's den. 



AYithin the gardens cultured round, 



It shares the sweet carnation's bed ; 

 And blooms on consecrated ground, 



In honour of the dead. 



The lambkin crops its crimson gem, 



The wild bee murmurs on its breast, 

 The blue fly bends its pensile stem, 



That decks the skylark's nest. 



Tis Flora's page : — in every place, 



In every season, fresh and fair, 

 It opens with perennial grace, 



And blossoms every where. 



On waste and woodland, rock and plain, 



Its humble buds unheeded rise ; 

 The rose has but a summer's reign, 



The daisy never dies. 



Although the J3ellis will grow freely, and flower abundantly, in 

 almost any common garden mould, yet in order to grow it fine, it 

 requires a composition suitable for the growth of the plant. I 

 must beg leave to state, that I have found the flowers to grow par- 

 ticularly large in the following mixture : — One-half maiden loam, 

 from pasture ground ; one-cpiarter of well decomposed stable ma- 

 nure; and one-cpiarter of vegetable mould. 



Oct. 5, 1834. Francis Goodall. 



