1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



149 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



Floriculture. 



Mr. Editor: — In a climate like ours where 

 winter reigns four or five months, and natuie is 

 disrobed of her beautiful apparel for hal( the year, 

 why is it that so few of our dwellings are orna- 

 mented with vases of flowers — so that while the 

 wintry storm is raging around us, and the hail 

 and sleet are rattling against our windows, the 

 eye can be relieved trom the sterility and cheer- 

 lessness without, by constant verdure and beauty 

 within ? Who can minutely examine a delicate 

 flower, and not admire its wonderful mechanism 1 

 The cultivation of flowers, whether in the gar- 

 den or the green-house, is a source of almost 

 endless enjoyment. Ask the enthusiastic lover 

 of flowers, who, with her own hands, cultivates 

 them, if she is not compensated for all her labor. 

 She watches over and nurtures her plants, as a 

 gentle nurse doth her offspring. She discovers 

 new beauty in every bud, and expatiates with 

 delight upon each expanding flower. While 

 arranging her vases, or weeding her border, she 

 gaily sings : 



I'll give thee, my flowers, 



A portiom of my hours ; 



And my hands I'll employ. 



With gratitude and joy, 



To rear theo ; — while I live, 



Ye'll unceasingly give 

 Vigor to my frame, happpiness to my heart, 

 The hue of tlie rose to my cheek yell impart. 



Life is a chequered scene. It has its lights 

 and shadows — its joys and sorrows — and what- 

 ever enables us to increase our own happiness, 

 or the happiness of those around us, should re- 

 ceive a due share of our attention. Human en- 

 joyment is made up of little things. The culti- 

 vation of flowers has a tendency to soften the 

 heart, to calm tumultuous feelings, and relieve 

 us from the dull, monotonous, every-day cares 

 of life. Let a person whose passions are high- 

 ly excited be introduced into a well stored green- 

 house, and its varied beauties pointed out to him, 

 the tumult within will be calmed, and his coun- 

 tenance soon indicate smiles instead of frowns, 

 r rejoice to find as I travel through the country, 

 that there is an increasing interest taken in the 

 cultivation of flowers in and around the house. 

 When I. see a dwelling, (I care not whether con- 

 structed of marble or of logs,) the windows of 

 which are filled with vases of flowers, I think 

 the hearts of the inmates of that house are made 

 better by them. I often wonder why, in our vil- 

 lages, and in the country too, so few of the dv^el- 

 Kngs are ornamented with that beautiful append- 

 age, the " Green House." Home should be 

 made attractive. We should not spare reasonable 

 time and expense to ornament our dwellings and 

 grounds, so that our children may not spend their 

 pastime and seek their enjoyments abroad, but 

 find them in and around the paternal habitation. 



My principal object in writing this article is to 

 induce the fair readers of the " Farmer" to peti- 

 tion their husbands and fathers, to attach to their 

 dwellings a green-house. Methinks I hear a 

 large majority of my brother farmers, whose 

 thoughts seem to be absorbed with fine wheat 

 fields, luxuriant corn, handsome cattle, fat pigs, 

 &c., exclaim, "What! expend twenty, fifty, or 

 a hundred dollars to build a green-house, in which 

 to raise flowers, that will not be worlh any thing 

 when they are grown 1" But, my dear sirs, you 

 forget that what contributes to the happiness of 

 your family, friends, and neighbors— what pleases 

 your wife and daughters, and affords them a de- 

 lightful place for amusement and recreation, after 

 going through with the dull routine of the kitch- 

 en, and the every day occurences of household 

 affairs, is or ovght to be worth something. 



A family green-house should be attached to 

 the south side of the room mostly occupied in 

 winter, and if of small dimensions, say seven by 

 fourteen" feet, or even ten by twenty feet, can be 

 warmed without any extra apparatus for heating, 

 simply by an open door, or windows leading from 

 the room to the green-house. If warmed in this 

 way, the house should be made very tight, and 

 without an outside door, as the frequent passing 

 through the door would allow much heat to es- 

 cape. I have a green-house arranged on the 

 above plan, and during the past winter have made 

 no fire in the arch during the day, and but on 

 three or four occasions when the coldest nights 

 occurred. When the sun shines, although the 

 weather may be cold, my dining room, which is 

 15 by 18 feet, is often sufficiently wanned from 

 the green-house alone. E. li. Porter. 



Frattshurg, N. Y., Apri?, 1847. 



Hard Biscuit. — One quart of flour, and half 

 a tea-spoonful of salt ; four great spoonfuls of 

 butter rubbed into two-thirds of the flour ; wet it 

 up with milk till a dough ; roll it out again and 

 again, sprinkling on the reserved flour till all is 

 used ; cut into round cakes, and bake in a quick 

 oven on buttered tins. 



Dahlias, Roses, Verbenas, &c. 



We have on hand a very large stock of choice 



Dahlias, in pots ready for turning out, th.at we can sell at 

 unusually low prices, viz : 12 good varieties for $2,00 ; 12 

 of the finest $6,00 — selected by us. 



Verbettas — 1.5 fine varieties, good, strong plants, at $1,50 

 to $2,00 per dozen. 



Petunias — 6 select varieties, $1,.50 to $2,00 per dozen. 



Bourbon Roses, $4, .50 per dozen. ) 



Chinese do. 3,00 do. ( Strong plants with 



Tea-scmted do. 4,00 do. f flower buds. 



Noisetts, do. 4,00 do. J 



Fuschins. — a splendid collection of .'50 varieties — fine, 

 strong plants, covered with buds ; 12 fine varieties for $3,00; 

 12 of the best for $5,00. 



The above plants are all in fine condition for turning into 

 the border, and will furnish a profusion of flowers from July 

 until the autumn frosts. 



Plants packed in the best manner for transportation to 

 any part of the countrj'. Catalogues of Dahlias, Green 

 House plants, &c., furnished gratis to all post paid applica- 

 tions. ELLVVANGER & I5ARRY, 



Mount Hope Garden and Nurseries, 



