88 Three New Plums. 



have their own beauty, but there is (so at least we hope) beauty also in 

 dense masses of flowers which grow, and twine, and mingle together as if 

 nature had planted them. Perforce, such has been the shape of our own 

 gardening affairs ; our beds are so full that the ground is scarcely to be 

 seen ; flowers lean over each other — ;vines intertwine, they mat, and run, 

 and blossom in each other's embrace, as if tbey grew in a meadow. Here 

 and there a hardy weed, if he have any prepossessing points, is allowed 

 a niche, unless some amateur young gardener, zealous for etiquette, pulls 

 him up in our absence. Humming-birds and sparrows come and go among 

 our flowers, and every day, as we explore the jungle, we find some new de- 

 velopment. 



This humming-bird — child of air and light I winged jewel I ethereal 

 vision I what shall we say of him ? Suppose some good, clucking hen, as 

 she scratches in the garden, should deliver to her chicks an opinion of him. 

 Standing on one leg, with her eye cocked upward, she watches his gyra- 

 tions as he dips first at the coral tubes of the honeysuckle, and then 

 dances through beds of petunias and verbenas. " See, my children," she 

 says, •' what absurd, irrational conduct I Did you ever see me do so ?' 

 What if I should go flying about, pecking honeysuckle blossoms ? Don't 

 tell me that a bird can live on such fare as that I Don't it take corn-meal, 

 potatoes and worms to keep us alive, and can a living be got by figuring 

 round among roses and jessamines ? What utter neglect of all solid tastes 

 and pursuits ! If I had the bringing up of that creature, she should 

 learn to scatch and eat corn-meal as a rational bird should I Don't tell 

 me about her fine colors — all trumpery I and graceful motions — pah! 

 what are they good for .' do they dig a single worm, or hatch a single 

 chicken ?" 



Many of the judgments which human beings pass on each other are 

 about as sensible as this. H. B. S. — Independent. 



THREE NEW I'LUMS, 



I;Y JAMES SXOWDEN. 



1 SEND you specimens of three new Plums of decided distinctive 

 character, and euiieeiitly worthy to hold rank with the more esteemed 

 of their class. TLe first that I shall notice is the Fulton, a local variety 



