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UEPOirr ON FLOWEPvS. 



" Who can paint 



Like Natnrc ? Can inia;;ination boast 

 Amid its {jay creation, lines liice hers 1 

 Or can it mix them with that matchless skill, 

 And lose them in cacii other, as appears 

 In every bud tliat blows i " 



The exhibition of Flowers was generally admitted to excel that 

 of any previous year. 



The collection might have been divided into three classes : — 

 First, the splendid exotics from the hot-house, many of which were 

 of extraordinary beauty. 



We embrace this opportunity to express our obligations to those 

 gentlemen who ofler their rare, curious and expensive plants for 

 exhibition, at our festival. 



Second, numerous varieties of roses, verbenas, pansies, dahlias, 

 hollyhocks, and other flowers, that are commonly grown in florist's 

 gardens. Among these were many that challenge our admiration 

 for their size, symmetry, colors and fragrance ; and we are grati- 

 fied to perceive that year by year the number and comparative 

 excellence of this class are increased. 



Third, the wild flowers of this vicinity, including several kinds 

 of asters, gentian, arum, and others equally desirable. This list 

 might be greatly extended with advantage to our exhibition. We 

 hope on future fairs to see more of the charming flowers that grace 

 our woods and meadows. 



Fortunately we have no prejudices to contend against in the 

 cultivation and show of flowers. Here and there we may find a 

 man who would plow up the domestic flower garden and plant it 

 with potatoes ; but this class of men is nearly extinct. We have 

 learned that whatever makes home attractive, tends to promote 

 virtue and increase happiness ; tends also to retain our youths 

 within the reach of domestic influences, and to bind them to the 

 scenes and duties of their early lives. Who can doubt that our 

 homes are made more cheerful and interesting by the flowers, few 

 and humble though they may be, that are tended by our families ? 

 Their culture is a source of innocent pleasure ; nor is it without 

 intellectual activity in devising ways and means of increasing their 

 size, beauty, or fragrance. Why should it not be so, when the 

 love of flowers is one of the earliest developed sentiments of child- 

 hood ? The young child gratifies his sense of the beautiful by 

 eagerly grasping at a flower. At a maturer age we show the 

 same sentiment by adorning our houses and the persons of those 

 we love with these fair creations. AVe seem instinctively prompted 

 to decorate the social board, the altar of religion, and the bier of 



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