76 Queries, Criticisms, SfC. 



Thoughls on Floicers. — "Are not," asks tlie aiitlior of Atherton, "flowers 

 the stars ofeRrtli, ami are not stars the flowers of heaven ? Flowers are the 

 teachers of gentle thoughts, promoters of kindly emotion. One cannot look 

 closely at the strncture of a flower witliout loving it. They are emblems and 

 manifestations of God's love to the creation, and they are the means and 

 ministrations of man's love to his fellovv-creatnres ; for they flrst awaken in 

 the mind a sense of the beantifid and the good. Light is beantifiil and good ; 

 but on its niidivided beanty, and on the glorions intensity of its full strength, 

 man cannot gaze ; he can comprehend it best when prisniati(;ally separated, 

 and dispersed in the many-colored beauty of flowers; and thus he reads the 

 elements of beanty, the alphabet of visible gracefulness. The very inutility 

 of flowers is their excellence and great beauty; lor, by having a delightful- 

 ness in their very form and color, they lead us to thoughts of generosity and 

 moral beauty detached from, and superior to, all selfishness; so that they are 

 l)retty lessons in Nature's book of instruction, teaching man that he liveth 

 not by bread or fiir bread alone, but thai he hath another than an animal 

 ]ife."_(A Chajiter on Flowers, in the Amuld fur 1832.) 



Art. V. Queries, Criticisms, Sfc. 



I am ha|)ity to see that you intend to devote a column or two in your Rlag- 

 azine to small items, queries, criticisms, &c. This, in my opinion, gives ad- 

 ditional interest to a work of this kind, and much enhances its value. 



Yours, truly, 1>. Hale Ives. 



Salem, Jan. \7th, 1835. 



Gentlemen, 



I am glad to see that you have starJed your Magazine with the aid of 

 such able contrii)ufors. The articles are all excellent, and augur well for 

 the continuance of a work so much needed by all lovers of horiiculture and 

 floriculture. We hope iu your next, or in some future nund)ers, you will 

 give descriptions for erecting small jiits for forcing cucumbers, &c., and for 

 building green-iiouses and other useful and ornamental garden structures, 

 accom])anied wiih wood cuts, if it can be done without incurring too much 

 expense. Such engravings would be far more valuable to the generality 

 of your readers than cuts of flowers, which cannot be tolerably well done 

 without being at great exjjeuse; and then they are not desirable in a work 

 unless exclusively devoted to Botany and flowers. If they are not colored, 

 which it is not supposed they can be at the low price of your Magazine, they 

 are still more objectionable; as the form of a flower is no better than a de- 

 scription. Many gentlemen who are fond of plants would erect green-houses 

 if they could but see plans to guide them in so doing, without leaving the 

 business (;ntirely to the builder. 



The accentuations of all botanical terms will add exceedingly to its value, 

 as it wdl serve as a book of reference to those who are in the habit of calling 

 names incorrectly. I believe your Magazine, the first of the kind exclusively 

 devoted to horticultiu'e in our country, is also the first to attempt the accen- 

 tuation of names. At a future time, 1 have other suggestions to make, and 

 jou will please excuse my freefloin. 



Yours, L. 



Cambridge, Jan. ^ith, 1835. 



