THE 



itt Sitttttlt 



VOL. VIIL] 



MARCH, 1885. 



[No. 3. 



THE NAECISSUS 



The times change and we change 

 with them. We seem even to tire of 

 beautiful and pleasant things, and put 

 them away because they cease to in- 

 terest. Flowers become old-fashioned, 

 and in our love of new things the old- 

 time favorites are neglected, and for a 

 while forgotten. But by-any-by memory 

 recalls her long-forgotten joys, and we 

 go back again to our old favorites, and 

 plant anew the neglected flowers. 

 Thirty years ago nearly every garden 

 had its clumps of dafibdils, jonquils 

 and narcissus. And now, after many 

 years of neglect, these old-time favor- 

 ites are being sought for again. Exlii- 

 bitions are held expressly to display 

 their beauty and scatter their fragrance. 

 Attention is being called to their many 

 excellencies, and for a time they will be 

 again planted and admired ; and we 

 shall wonder that we could ever suffer 

 them to die out. 



The pretty colored plate which en- 

 riches this March number will recall 

 familiar loveliness to many of our read- 

 ers, while to others, doubtless, it will 

 possess the charm of novelty. To 

 which will be given the greater plea- 

 sure; to those who look upon these 

 flowers with cui-ious interest, feeling 



that there are in store for them new 

 sensations of delight in watching their 

 unfolding beauty and inhaling their 

 delicious fragrance for the first time ; or 

 to those in whose hearts deep memories 

 are stirred, to whom they speak " of 

 life's morning march, when their bosom 

 was young," of the home of their fore- 

 fathers and the friends of early days'? 

 Ah ! well, let there be joy to both and 

 to all in the culture and the gathering 

 of these spring-time flowers, we need 

 not question whose is the riclier if so be 

 that the cup of each is full. 



Our plate represents three varieties 

 of narcissus. The largest flower, with 

 the bright pink or bright scarlet edge 

 upon the crimped crown, is known as 

 narcissus poetica, or the poet's narcissus. 

 It is generally esteemed the most beau- 

 tiful. The large petals are of the purest 

 white, the small crown in the centre is 

 of a light yellow, edged with very bright 

 pink. The flowers are very sweet- 

 scented. The bulbs may be planted in 

 clumps in the garden, in rich friable 

 soil, and allowed to remain undisturbed 

 for several years. Eventually the bulbs 

 will become too crowded, when they 

 should be lifted, after the leaves have 

 died down, separated and re-planted in 



