48 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURTST. 



THE USE OF FLOWERS. 



God might have made the earth bring forth 



Enough for great and small, 

 The oak-tree and the cedar-tree, 



Without a flower at all. 



We might have had enough,— enough 



For every want of oufs. 

 For luxury, medicine, and toil,— 



And yet have had no flowers. 



The ore within the mountain mine 



Reqnireth none to grow, 

 Nor does it need the Lotus flower 



To make the river flow. 



The clouds might give abundant rain, 



The nightly deM^s might fall. 

 And the herb that keepeth life in man 



Might yet have drunk them all. 



Then wherefore, wherefore were they made 



And dyed with rainbow light, 

 All fashioned with supremest grace, 



Ui>springing day and night ? 



Springing in valleys green and low, 



And on the mountains high, 

 And in the silent wilderness. 



Where no man passeth by ? 



Our outward life requires them not, 

 Then wherefore had they birth ? 



To minister delight to man — 

 To beautify the earth. 



To comfort him, to whisper hope 



Whene'er his faith is dim, 

 For whoso careth for the flowers 



Will much more care for Him 



Mary HowiTT. 



Paper Bags for Grapes. — George W. 

 "Campbell says that further experiments 

 with paper bags of thin manilla on grapes 

 during growth and ripening, show that 

 they preserve against birds and rot. The 

 bunches should be previously thinned out, 

 to make the bagging easy. The grapes 

 ripen perfectly. — Country Gentleman. 



The Mammoth Pearl Potato.-— We 

 cut into single eyes and planted one-half 

 bushel of Mammoth Pearl potatoes last 

 spring, after the middle of May, and 

 the first of October we dug from same 

 36 bushels of very large, smooth, white 

 potatoes. All who saw them growing 

 were astonished at the vines, which com- 

 pletely covered the ground, but when 

 they saw the yield they opened their eyes 

 in wonder. Such beauties had never 

 before been seen in this or any other 

 country. The beauty of these potatoes 

 is this : there is not a hollow or rotten 

 one in the lot, and they are such rank 

 growers the bugs can't catch them. — A. 

 W. F. , in Fruit Recorder. 



Squashes to keep well must first be 

 well ripened ; second, they should be 

 gathered before heavy frosts come ; third, 

 should be well dried ; fourth, the shell 

 should be Well glazed over, and while it 

 need not be thick it should be hard ; 

 fifth, they should be kept where the tem- 

 perature is very even, never very cold, or 

 very hot ; sixth, in handling, great care 

 should be taken not to bruise them — 

 this is of the highest importance. 



We are informed by G. H. Miller, of 

 the ad-interim committee, that the Cum- 

 berland strawberry, in addition to its 

 large size, handsome form and good 

 quality, has been successfully shipped 

 from Barnesville to Chicago (some 400 

 or 500 miles), arriving in fine order, and 

 selling as high as $9. 60 per bushel. As 

 it has commonly been supposed to be too 

 soft for long conveyance, this fact gives 

 it additional value. — Country Gentleman. 



Strawberries in Iowa. — A corres- 

 pondent of the Prairie Farmer, in 

 Southern Iowa, says the Sharpless, Great 

 American, Col. Cheney, Lincoln and 

 Longfellow have all failed with him, 

 while the Charles Downing, Kentucky 

 and Crescent succeed well, and the old 

 Monroe Scarlet, raised by Ellwanger & 

 Barry, of Rochester, holds its own 

 against weeds and neglect, and has borne 

 well every year for twenty-five years. — 

 Country Gentleman. 



Improvements in Fruit Dryers. — 

 Mr. David Britton, of Jonesborough, 111., 

 has patented a fruit dryer, which has 

 superior drying facilities and oflers in- 

 creased conveniences for inserting, chang- 

 ing, and removing the fruit. It consists 

 of a drying house having a separable strip 

 in its roof to provide for the escape of the 

 moist air and to promote circulation of 

 the heated air, a furnace for heating the 

 incoming air ; guiding, and distributing 

 plates for the air to, at the sides of, and 

 above the furnace ; a series of tracks of 

 ways on opposite sides of the interior of 

 the drying house and arranged one above 

 the other to support tiers of drawers which 

 hold the fruit to be dried ; and separable 

 end frames having crossbars and hinged 

 doors to provide for the entry and re- 

 moval of the drawers with very little 

 waste K)f heated air. — Scientijic American. 



PRINTED AT tHE STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK » CO., COLBORNE STREET, TORONTO. 



