i 



CROCUS OF THE CLASSICS. 25 



I sometimes think that the Crocus is less cared 

 for than it deserves. Our modern poets rarely 

 mention it ; but in Homer, when he would make a 

 carpet for the gods, it is of Lotus, Hyacinth, and 

 Crocus ; and Virgil's bees find their honey among 

 Cassia and Lime blossoms, and " iron-grey Hya- 

 cinths and glowing Crocus." Virgil speaks, too, 

 of the scent of the Crocus (whatever that may be), 

 and all Latin authors, when they wish to express a 

 bright deep orange colour, call it the colour of the 

 Crocus. 



Our cool vinery is now gay with stages of 

 Narcissus, Tulips, and Hyacinths, which have been 

 brought on in heat, and are well rewarding us for 

 what care we have given to them. 



