1853. 



NEW ENGLAND lARMER. 



Ill 



For the New En^laKcl Farmer. 

 THE CULTIVATION OF FLOWERS. 



liV J. REVNOLDS, M. D. 



Said an excellent and kind-hearted old man to 

 me, one day, on observing some flowersinthe win- 

 dow, "I love to see these about a house. They 

 shew that there is good feeling within, that there 

 is taste, a regard for the feelings of others, that 

 the mind is not wholly wrapped up in love orself." 

 And is it not so ? \V here you see a fine collection 

 of flowers in or about a house, well trained and 

 cultivated, and where you see the daughters, aye, 

 and the sons too, taught to love them and watch 

 over them and protect them from enemies and in- 

 juries, do you not feel assured that the mistress of 

 the house is a lady of taste, that she has an eye 

 for the beauties of nature, that slie has other 

 sources of pleasure besides money and*dress and 

 display ? Do you not feel that she has a soul en- 

 dowed with some of the finer sensibilities of our 

 nature, and that she is developing and cultivat- 

 ing these sensibilities in her children ? Do you 

 not expect to find in the mind of the woman who 

 has a love for these delicate and beautiful oVijects 

 of nature, a nice sense of propriety, a strong and 

 ardent love of truth, and a keen and quick percep- 

 tion of moral beauty? Would you not commit 

 your daughters to the instruction of the woman 

 who possesses a strong love for fiowers, other 

 things being equal, rather than to her who has no 

 taste for their delicate forms, and blushing and al- 

 most speaking beauties ? 



I have been in the habit of associating a love 

 for flowers, and for the more delicate beauties of 

 nature, with all that is refined and tender and 

 lovely in woman, and indeed, it is because there is a 

 finer tone in the feelings of the female heart, that 

 she so much more frequently than man possesses a 

 keen relish for the modest pearl drops, the bvil- 

 Kant gems, the delicate hues, the rich, blushing 

 tints, the beautiful commingling of light and shade, 

 which the pencil of nature has scattered so pro- 

 fusely around us. 



Man seizes the bolder and stronger features of 

 the landscape — the noble tree — the lofty moun- 

 tain — the broad expanse — the flowing river — the 

 rolling wave ; but woman instinctively loves the 

 flowers. They speak to her heart, and commune 

 with it in language of their own, of all that is ten- 

 der, and gentle and kind and provident and pa- 

 tient and loving in nature, and she feels that her 

 heart is made better by the sweet communion, and 

 she is inspired by it with strength and patience 

 and fitness for the tasks of life. They are the 

 beautiful and most appropriate instruments em- 

 ployed by her kind Father al)ove to give birth to 

 loving thoughts in her heart, from which over- 

 flow to all around her, gentle words and the sweet 

 chacities of life. 



There is nothing more fascinating to the heart 

 of a true woman, than the cultivation of flowers. 

 When the fondness for it is indulged, it may be- 

 e©me a passion, and absorb time and thoughts due 

 to other duties. But among our fair country-wo- 

 men, such instances are but rarely seen. The 

 error is_ usually in the opposite direction. Suffi- 

 cient time and attention are not given to this 

 charming pursuit; a pursuit full of beauty and 

 health for the body and of improvement to the 

 mind and the heart. 



Let husbands and fathers see to it that they 

 never discourage a taste for the cultivation of flow- 

 ers. Rather let them furnish all the facilities 

 within their power. Every wife and every daugh- 

 ter, however lowly her lot in life, may cherish a 

 rose or train a sweet pea or a morning glory. Let 

 no father or husband frown upon such an exhibi- 

 tion of taste and love for nature, as he values a 

 sunny smile, a cheerful tone, a gentle word, and 

 a loving heart. 



Every farmer can provide the neat border, or 

 the warm sunny patch, (and let him not grudge 

 the time or labor of its preparation) where the 

 modest crocus, the lily of the valley, the sweet 

 violet, and the gay tulip may spring up to meet 

 the coming birds, where the mignionette — the 

 sweet balsam, the pink and the rose may mingle 

 their perfumes at dewey eve, and the rich, ever- 

 varying tints of the amaranth, the dahlia, the as- 

 ter and the chrysanthemum, may recall the more 

 delicate hues and the sweeter blossoms o-f spring. 

 There shall lessons of gentleness, of cheerfulness, 

 of contentment, of love of home, be read by lov- 

 ing eyes, and garnered up with the heart's trea- 

 sures, in the store house of memory, to be repeat- 

 ed around the cheerful liearth — when the wintry 

 blasts and the drifting snows, shall have rendered 

 alike bleak and desolate, the garden and the field. 

 And when the frosts of age shall have whitened 

 the locks and furrowed the brow, the sweet scenes 

 of youth, still fragrant with the breath of flowers, 

 shall gush up from the deep memories of the past. 

 The influence of flowers upon the young heart is 

 never wholly lost. 



'You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will, 

 But the scent of the roses will hang round it stiil." 



Concord, Feb., 1853. J. R. 



For the New En^iand Farmer. 



BRISTOL COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



Transactions for the Year 1852. 



No publication of this kind has impressed me so 

 fixvorably as this pamphlet of seventy-two pages. 

 The first thirty pages contains the finished address 

 of Mr. Winthrop; which, although it may not 

 guide the farmer in the operations upon his field, 

 presents such general topics for reflection, in a 

 style so chaste, that it will be read again and again 

 with instruction. The farmer cannot fail to be 

 encouraged in his laborious pursuit, when he finds 

 men like Wintlirop, rage,and others, ready to lend 

 a helping hand. 



Among the Reports in this pamphlet, my atten- 

 tion was particularly arrested, by (me on "Orna- 

 mental and Forest Trees." For thirly years, I 

 have seen premiums oflered on this subject ; l)ut I 

 have never before seen anything, that so nearly 

 approximated to practical utility, as the sugges- 

 tions of this writer. 1 hope they will be era- 

 bodied in the State abstract, and be the means of 

 difl"asing an agreeable shade through all our vil- 

 lages. On jiage 35, I notice Mr. Leonard's crop 

 of corn, yielding more than one hundred husheh to 

 the acre. If such things can be done in the shal- 

 low soils of Bristol and Plymouth ; — shame upon 

 the farmerrs in counties with better soils, who re- 

 main content with crops of half this amount. _Mr. 

 Leonard plowed his land nine inches deep ; might 

 not this operation be one of the reasons of his good 



