sowbugs, wireworms, can, in the warmer climes, 

 almost fret the soul to hopelessness. The flowers 

 which are native in the tropics have a hardihood which 

 can resist the insects and the heat ; it is true they keep 

 a cycle of bloom the year round, but they are apt 

 to be limited in number and consequently are repeated 

 endlessly in all gardens, producing in a foreigner the 

 sensation of living amid set stage scenes of undeni- 

 able beauty, but a beauty which eventually palls on 

 the mind to an unendurable degree. 



The great contrast of our snowy winters gives the 

 eye a change and rest, and breeds a new zest for the 

 next season's pageant of flowers. And how imper- 

 ceptibly nature reintroduces us to color; the earliest 

 spring flowers are all demure and modest in form and 

 tint; from the snowdrop and crocus we are led by 

 scillas, hyacinths and narcissi to the bolder tones 

 of the tulips. 



The winter severities weld our hearts closer to the 

 creatures of the out-of-doors. There are the traces 

 of Br'er Rabbit to be seen each morning after a snow. 

 I always feel a thrill when I see the pathetic track of 

 his hunted feet. I wish there were some way to con- 

 vey a general invitation to his race to make their 

 winter quarters in the safe refuge of our garden, 

 ISO 



