72 PACIFIC STATES FLORAL CONGRESS. 



was very much grieved at what she had done, and wished as far as 

 possible to make amends for the wrong. So to some she gave beautiful 

 blossoms, and to others, luscious fruits, that the beholder might forget 

 their ugliness of form, in the beauty of the flower and the deliciousness 

 of the fruit, teaching the sin of intoxication, since we can never fully 

 repair the wrongs committed while in that state. As a recompense for 

 suffering a flower was produced as a memorial. 



When Hyacinthus, in his games with Apollo, fell wounded and 

 dying, his blood stained the herbage, and a flower most beautiful in hue 

 immediately appeared from his grave. Each spring our hyacinth comes 

 as a memorial for him. 



Daphne, when she fled from Apollo, was changed to a laurel tree, 

 which was to be always green, the leaf to know no decay, and to be used 

 as a crown for the victorious. The water-nymphs mourned for one of 

 their number; they prepared a funeral pile, but the body was nowhere 

 to be found. In its place had sprung up a delicate flower, purple 

 within, surrounded with white leaves, which bears the name, and pre- 

 serves the memory, of Narcissus. All these sayings and beliefs of the 

 ancients teach us of later years that the lessons taught by Mother Nature 

 are wise and holy. 



The Germans tell of a time, when the world was young, and the 

 wood-nymphs went to sleep, when the leaves fell and the birds had 

 ceased their singing, and did not awake till roused by the gurgling 

 sap, the swelling of the buds, and the twittering of the young 

 birds. One year they slept so late that when they awoke it 

 was scorching summer. The daisies were dried up, the flowers had lost 

 their fragrance, and there was no one to welcome their coming. The 

 king was very angry, and decided that one band of nymphs should keep 

 awake all winter to announce the coming of spring. These he called 

 violets. They were not to be far away, just under the snow and 

 leaves, so as to watch for the first warm rays of the spring sunshine. 

 They never fail in their duty, and the wood-nymphs sleep securely, 

 always sure of the coming of the violet, From them we learn a lesson 

 of constancy and trust. 



Flowers have formed models for sculptors, and painters have always 



copied from them. They have been made emblems of countries and 



states. As a society, we may well be proud that we helped to make the 



schscholtzia our state flower, which is such a true emblem of the golden 



gram above the soil and the pure gold beneath. 



Our California fruit-growers should be classed as spring florists; 

 Pomona and Flora work hand in hand. Where can be found such a 

 flower show as the farmer gives, when the almond takes the place of the 

 violet to announce the coming of spring, and the others follow in quick 



