FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 323 



the Middle States, in the Magnolia, that with snch prodigality 

 scatters its fragrance throughout the swamps of Essex and 

 Gloucester. Danvers, too, is noted among botanists, for locali- 

 ties of the Cowberry* and the little Draba verna. 



" The first gilt thing, 

 That wears the trembling breath of spring." 



Neither are we at all behind other sections of the country in 

 men of zeal and attainment, who possess the keenest perceptions 

 of nature's charms. The learned and venerable Cutler, the 

 genial Nichols, and the devoted Oakes, have left the savor of 

 their names behind them, and now lie where the trefoil dallies 

 with the breeze and scatters far and wide its perfume. The 

 living are, in one way and another, telling their own story. To 

 a son of Essex belongs the honor, in which few have ever 

 shared, of rearing, from seed to adult and regal splendor, the 

 "Victoria regia, and of adding a magnificent volume upon that 

 subject, to the botanical lore of the country. Others have done 

 much to introduce and propagate new and rare plants, or other- 

 wise to disseminate a taste for gardening and the study of 

 botany, and in this connection it may not be amiss to mention 

 the great success that has attended the field meetings of the 

 Essex Institute, in diffusing a taste for botanical and kindred 

 pursuits in a manner worthy of imitation in other counties. 



The embellishment of our cemeteries not only with decidu- 

 ous and evergreen trees, but with shrubs and flowering plants, 

 is a delightful feature, and one which marks the times in which 

 we live. The freshness and bloom tliat now surround the 

 habitations of the departed, rob the grave of much of its gloom, 

 and bespeak of peace and immortality beyond. 



However we may regard them, flowers will never cease to be 

 admired. Seals are they of Divine stamping ; " the finger of 

 God is upon them all." Every thing that waves in the breeze, 

 or pays the tribute of its bloom to the sun, is worthy of our 

 love, particularly the tall old trees that have for generations 

 shaded our ancestral homes, and the shrubs that border our 

 native hills, and the plants that spring around the thresholds of . 



* Vaccinium vitis-idoea. 



