INFLUENCE OF FLOWERS UPON NATIONAL LIFE. 133 



E. H. Hitchings said that he is a great lover of flowers, and the 

 essajist's mention of flowers in the pulpit reminded him of one 

 minister who said that his hearers got a better sermon from the 

 flowers than he could preach. 



William C. Strong thought the encouragement of window gar- 

 dening a most beneficial feature of the Society's work. But we 

 must not forget what it has done in the past, a large proportion of 

 its funds having been given for the promotion of floriculture. The 

 speaker thought the influence of flowers on those engaged in 

 the florist's business not altogether happy ; there is a danger that 

 familiarity with flowers may prevent their fully appreciating their 

 delicacy, just as cooks become indifferent to the flavor and odor 

 of the food they prepare. He mentioned an item which he saw 

 in a monthly paper concerning a floral cow, with a description 

 of its construction. He had himself had an order, on the death of 

 a butcher, for the head of a bullock in flowers, specifying all the 

 details, and when an expressman died an express wagon was 

 constructed of flowers. The use of flowers by wholesale detracts 

 from the sentiment connected with them, and though their 

 influence is to make men refined, florists have need to be careful 

 that they do not counteract this tendency by an improper use of 

 them. It is of the greatest benefit to cultivate them in windows 

 — not on a large scale, running a race in competition, but so as 

 to have a friendship with each individual plant. 



John S. Martin spoke of a clergyman who wanted to introduce 

 the culture of flowers among farmers, and got some lilies in flower 

 and placed on the table in his church and preached from the text, 

 " Consider the lilies." He knew that farmers understood the 

 value of potatoes, and he told them that while potatoes sold for 

 about fifty cents per bushel flower bulbs were worth from fifty to 

 a hundred and fift3' dollars per bushel. Very few farmers' wives 

 take the interest in the cultivation of flowers that they should, 

 because their husbands do not encourage it. 



O. B. Hadwen said that we have all felt the influence of flowers, 

 and he was much gratified at the essay which had been read, 

 tracing it down from the earliest times. The influences of this 

 Society go out to promote a taste for natural life, which is a great 

 work for any people, for all are benefited by the silent influence 

 of flowers, and so long as the Society exerts such influences it 

 cannot fail to continue to prosper. 



