342 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



in general are not so incessant as they were before sunrise. 

 One by one they discontinue their lays, until at high noon 

 the bobolink and the warbling fly-catcher are almost the only 

 vocalists to be heard in the fields. 



Among the agreeable accompaniments of a summer morn- 

 ing walk are the odors from the woods, the herbage and the 

 flowers. At no other hour of the day is the atmosphere so 

 fragrant with their emanations. The blossoms of almost 

 every species of plant are just unfolding their petals, after the 

 sleep of night, and their various offerings of incense are now 

 poured out at the ruddy shrine of morning. The objects of 

 sight and sound are generally the most expressive in a de- 

 scription of nature, because seeing and hearing are the intel- 

 lectual senses. But the perfumes that abound in diff'erent 

 situations are hardly less suggestive than sights and sounds. 

 Let a person who has always been familiar with green fields 

 and babbling brooks, and who has suddenly become blind, 

 be led out under the open sky, and how would the various 

 perfumes from vegetation suggest to him all the individual 

 scenes and objects which have been imprinted on his mem- 

 ory. 



There is a peculiar feeling of hope and cheerfulness that 

 comes to us on a summer morning walk, and sends its happy 

 influence over all the rest of the day. The pleasant still- 

 ness, apart from the stirring population ; the amber glow of 

 heaven that beams from underneath successive arches of 

 crimson and vermilion, constantly widening and brightening 

 into the full glory of sunrise ; the consciousness of having 

 gained an hour of the time usually devoted to sleep ; above 

 all, the melodious concert of warblers from every bush and 

 tree which is constantly changing its character by the silence 

 of the first performers and the joining of new voices — all con- 

 spire to render the brief period from dawn to sunrise a con- 

 secrated hour, and to sanctify it to every one's memory. I 

 am inclined to attribute the healthfulness of early rising to 

 these circumstances, rather than to the doubtful salubrity of 

 the dewy atmosphere of morn. The exercise of the senses 

 while watching the beautiful gradations of colors, through 



