392 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



To comfort man, to whisper hope 

 Whene er his faith is dim, 



For whoso careth for the flowers, 

 Will much more care for Him. 



WHAT ARE FLOWERS GOOD FOR P 



&quot; I HAVE said and written a great deal to my countrymen 

 about the cultivation of flowers, ornamental gardening, and 

 rural embellishments ; and I would read them a homily on 

 the subject every day of every remaining year of my life, 

 if I thought it would induce them to make this a matter of 

 particular attention and care. When a man asks me, what 

 is the use of shrubs and flowers, my first impulse is always, 

 to look under his hat and see the length of his ears. I am 

 heartily sick of measuring everything by a standard of 

 mere utility and profit ; and as heartily do I pity the man, 

 who can see no good in life but in the pecuniary gain, or 

 in the mere animal indulgences of eating and drinking.&quot; 

 Colman s Agricultural Tour. 



We protest against the sauciness of the italicized line. 

 Mr. Colman never feels any such impulse ; and if he does, 

 he ought to suspect his own ears. Nothing is more prepos 

 terous than interflagellations among men on the matter of 

 likes and dislikes. Every man selects his ruling passion, 

 and scoffs at such as do not grow enthusiastic with him. A 

 market gardener rails at a florist for fol-de-rol trifles ; and 

 the florist looks at the length of the fellow s ears who has 

 nothing but turnips, onions, and cabages; while a big. 

 Miami farmer, who puts in his five-hundred-acre corn-patch, 

 by way of summer amusement, regards both as small affairs. 

 We find no fault with those who possess a super-ardent 

 enthusiasm for flowers ; but when they throw it in other 

 people s faces, and call them brutes and asses, for not liking 

 pretty flowers, we think the thing has been carried quite far 

 enough. We love good manners along with pretty flowers. 



