GARDENING BY M YSELF. j ^y 



five or thirty to eighty ; narcissus, from five 

 to fifty. Named crocuses are forty cents a 

 dozen, and snowdrops still less. If you do 

 not care about knowing your flowers as in- 

 dividuals, and so can dispense with the 

 names, you will save yet more, but lose 

 some pleasure. Names are a great deal to 

 me, but many people care nothing about 

 them. Yet how could I properly describe 

 Tuba Flora, so that you would not get it all 

 mixed up with Penelope, if they had no 

 names? How could you order Fanny Kern- 

 ble, and run no risk of getting Pigeon in- 

 stead ? No disrespect to that most estim- 

 able little crocus ; but Fanny Kemble is one 

 that even the great pleasure-giver herself 

 might be willing to have bear her name. 

 Why, one comes to a sort of personal fam- 

 iliar acquaintance with King Pepin and the 

 Duchess of Parma, and Dorothea Blanche ; 

 instead of their being only '' the great white 

 tulip marked with red,'' and '' the smaller 

 white tulip marked with less red," and '' the 

 other tulip" that is just a strange glory ol 



