INFLUENCE OF FLOWERS UPON NATIONAL LIFE. 127 



commercial life of a country, or what pecuniary advantage will 

 result to the nations from the cultivation of flowers? They affect 

 business because they are a means used to attain certain results. 

 Manufacturing companies would be at a loss for designs were 

 they to dispense with copies of flowers and floral forms, for they 

 are seen in nearly all grades of manufactures. The com- 

 merce of a nation, whether foreign or domestic, is especially 

 benefited by its manufacturing interests, as all know. The trade 

 in flowers themselves is getting to be an important branch of 

 our domestic commerce. A florist, not far from Boston, states 

 that he finds plenty of money in the cultivation of one flower 

 alone, — the lily of the valle}'. Contrast the number of green- 

 houses thirty years ago, in any one of our towns, with that of 

 toda}', and it will be seen how the demand for flowers has 

 increased and this demand increases their commercial value. 

 Not onl}' are flowers sold for bridal decorations or funeral wreaths 

 as formerly, but no public celebration or reception, no private 

 party or school graduation, is considered correct unless there be 

 a profusion of flowers to greet the eye. 



Happily for us, there is almost a free trade in flowers, orange 

 flowers and hops being the onl}- ones on which there is any duty 

 imposed ; so that we can procure not onl}' the flowering plants 

 indigenous to our own soil, but also those of other countries for 

 cultivation, without fear of a national dispute over tariffs. 



In an educational journal of quite recent date, the statement is 

 made that a flower has been discovered in India that is likely to 

 revolutionize the sugar trade of the world. This flower is the 

 blossom of the " Mahwa," and possesses such saccharine proper- 

 ties that it yields half its weight in sugar. If this be true, the 

 influence of one flower alone upon the prosperity of that nation 

 will be speedily determined. 



But there is one way in which flowers are used that is compara- 

 tively modern, and that is in order to attract business. Brokers 

 pay large sums for flowers to adorn their offices, and druggists 

 often fill their windows with choice floral productions in order to 

 make their places of trade so striking and delightful that others, 

 less beautiful, will be overlooked. This influence may, at first, 

 seem trifling, but it adds its part to the great whole. Another 

 way in which the commerce in flowers may be greatl}' aided and 

 increased is through the raising of flowers for perfumery. But 



