THE GENESEE FARMER. 



258 



WHAT FLOWERS THINK OF IT. 



SlLOgue between me. hollyhock and miss bosk. 



OLLTHOCK. — "Well, Rose, do tell me what is 

 g on over there. Since Mr, Cuttings banished 

 rom the border, I can see and hear nothing, 

 oier's coming, though, and then you know 

 ; feet o'ertups the fence by two — unless, oh! 

 3r of horrors ! that man decapitates me for 

 ^ition! 



)SE. — Well, stately old friend, I wonder not at 

 annoyance, once the glory of the flower gar- 

 and now in durance vile beneath this gawky 

 ! ; but we all have our troubles. There was a 

 in wtiich I was held in higher repute, before 

 s bold, spindle shanked hybrids were all the 

 sticking their gaudy tops above the heads of 

 ear children. Well, there's a grand disfilay 

 le parterre, as they call it, a geometrical dig- 

 (copied from the panels of the hall door, so a 

 told me), filled with — what do you think? 

 'LLTUOCK. — Perhaps Roses, and Hydrangeas, 

 jilies ; Agapanthns, Carnations, Pinks, Diaur 

 Primroses, Wall-tlowers, and Pansies. 

 6E. — Oh, no! you speak of times gone by, 

 . the borders were always new, from Christ- 

 Sose to Chrysanthemums — right out of Win- 

 snow to Autumn's golden leaf — "a thing of 

 ,y and a joy for ever." 

 LLTHOCK. — Well, what ? Do tell me. Rose. 

 SE. — Prepare yourself for the worst, my dear 

 •lend. Each bed is filled with the same sort 

 wer, all huddled so thick together that not a 

 the rich black mould can be seen, and the 

 3 so crowd eiach other that all form and con- 

 are lost. 



LLTHOCK. — But what, friend Rose, do they 

 in this way ? Only mean things, whose foli- 

 n color and form, is a disgrace to them. 

 SE. — Well, no. Scarlet Geraniums for one 

 — great blazing patches of blood red, whose 

 hues lend a double fervency to the dog days, 

 hen, ere the second frost, are a black, putrid 



LLTHOCK. — Why, what doe? the squire think? 

 SE. — Oh! I think he's sickening of the new- 

 xl notions. The houses crammed full of 

 ding stuflF," as they call it, half the year ; and 

 •ouble and fuss cf coddling the precious cut- 

 from September to May. 

 LLYHocK. — I thought that was the squire's 

 3n. Last summer he came this way frequent- 

 id he did me the honor once to say that I am 

 •and old flower still." Of course, I made hiia 

 ateliest bow. But what of the lady? Does 

 ike as much delight in it ? 

 3E, — Oh, no, who'd go walking among a lot 

 rsery beds, between long rows of Tom Thumbs 

 #eedy Verbenas, and Calceolarias ? Why, it 

 1 be thought madness. The parterre is not 

 t for close inspection, 'tis to be seen only 

 particular points — the drawing room windows 

 e corner of the terrace, for instance. No, 

 don't go nearer, or the design is lost ! It's a 

 it showy advertisement, a sham, a monstrous 

 ion of common sense, and as such nmst be in 

 ; opposition to good taste. Who cares to lin- 

 nd stoop over great patches of scarlet, and 



yellow, and blue — scarlet, yellow, and blue, ad 

 na useam ? 



HoLLTHOCK. — Hurrah ! but this is not only pan- 

 dering to the rage for display, this sensation gar- 

 dening, but it is bringing disgrace and ruin upon 

 the gentle craft. Gardeners may talk of skill in 

 arranging colors, and be mysterious about harmo- 

 nies and management of bedding stuff; or twaddle 

 about edgings, and ribbons, and pincushions, and 

 " beds to match ;" but the public are getting tired 

 of the thing, and will come back ere long, I think, 

 to ask our help. What think yon. Rose ? 



Rose. — Well, friend, you're warm somewhat. 

 The flowers I see are brilliant in color and some of 

 elegant form, 'tis true, though tender things, and 

 not well fitted for our climate ; but 'tis tlie plant- 

 ing that's mainly wrong — this system of massing, 

 as they call it. 



HoLLTHOOK. — Yes, yes ; but they're mean dwarf 

 things generally, and cannot stand our climate. 

 Why, the beds are bare above six months in the 

 year ! 



Rose. — Yes; but you forget the brilliant idea of 

 clinkers, and broken glass, and many-colored 

 stones! 

 H OLLTHOCK. — At which our squire is gravelled. 

 Rose. — And nevergreens. But who cares foi 

 the ijarterre? "Why, all our squire's family rush 

 along this way. How eagerly they run to Will 

 Haylock's cottage garden, and beg a bunch of Wall- 

 flowers, Cloves, and Honeysuckles, and now and 

 then a sprig of his crimson China. 



HoLLTHOCK. — Which Mr. Cuttings, pooh-poohs, 

 no doubt. Well, well, this is but the opposite ex- 

 treme. I once had the honor of being staged at 

 Sydenham, and was heartily ashamed of myself, 

 leaning for support like a drunken soldier. The 

 idea of a Hollyhock's head stuck in a potful of sand 

 to be gazed at and admired, was only on a par with 

 the barbarous custom of clipping and shaving trees. 

 But what was still worse, a pettifogging fellow 

 came with small bone tweezers, and pulled out a 

 leaf here and there, and exchanged another, until 

 you would scarcely have known me. Florists, you 

 know, have laid down rules for our growth, and 

 have actually drawn figures of what we ought to 

 bet Hush! here are the squire and all the family 

 this way again; how soon they tire of their par- 

 terre ! Mr. Cuttings has it all to himself. 



Rose. — Yes, old friend, they'll soon replace ns, 

 if I mistake not. Hush ! let's hear what they say. 

 T. W., in London Journal of Horticulture. 



Roots of Teees. — Tiie roots of trees extend for 

 a far greater distance than is generally imagined. 

 J. J. Thomas has made some experiments to deter- 

 mine this point, and says: "The roots of a tree 

 extend nearly as far on each side as the hight of 

 the tree ; and hence to dig it up by by cutting a 

 circle with a spade half a foot in diameter, cuts oflT 

 more than nine-tenths of the roots ; and to spade a 

 little circle about a young tree not one quarter as 

 far as the roots extend, and call it 'cultivation,' is 

 like Falstaff's men claiming spurs and shirt collar 

 for a complete suit." 



