PREPARATIONS FOR REMOVAL. 261 



My assiduity in tending that solitary plant was 

 praiseworthy. Nothing was left undone that could 

 insure its welfare ; water, warmed to a proper tem 

 perature, a sufficiency of fresh air, occasional sup 

 plies of a little new earth or well-rotted manure, a 

 gentle stirring of the surface, and pruning of strag 

 gling and superfluous sprouts none of these were 

 omitted. In spite of this attention, it remained pale, 

 yellow, and feeble, so deadly must have been the na 

 ture of the unknown and invisible malaria that had 

 penetrated into my green-house ; but it survived the 

 danger. . It became gradually weaker as March pass- 

 ed by and April advanced, but was still alive when, 

 in May, after it had been carefully hardened off by 

 progressive exposure to the air, it was once more 

 consigned to the earth of the garden. The fuchsia 

 was gone ; the roses, the daisies, the carnationsj were 

 no more ; its brothers had fallen by the way-side ; 

 but this peculiar variety this child of my own rais 

 ing this new species, that had no equal for hardness, 

 and probably would have none in beauty this seed 

 ling, that was destined to electrify the floral world 

 this original discovery, which I had already mental 

 ly resolved should make my name immortal as the 

 Verbena jBarnwellii was saved ! That was all-suf 

 ficient. 



