FEBRUARY. 37 



trees, swelling and feeding the buds : in gardens 

 a variety of green things are peeping from the 

 earth, and snow-drops, hepaticas, etc. are ac- 

 tually in bloom. 



In towns it is a cheering sight, even while all 

 without is frosty and wintry, to see, as we pass, 

 in cottage windows, tufts of crocuses and snow- 

 drops flowering in pots ; and in those of wealthier 

 dwellings hyacinths, narcissi, etc. in glasses, dis- 

 playing their bulbs and long fibrous roots in the 

 clear water below, and the verdure and flowery 

 freshness of summer above. It is a sight truly 

 English. It is in accordance with our ideas of 

 home-comfort and elegance. If we are to be- 

 lieve travellers, in no country is the domestic 

 culture of flowers so much attended to as in this. 

 I trust this will always be a prevailing taste 

 with us. There is something pure and refresh- 

 ing in the appearance of plants in a room ; and 

 watched and waited on, as they are, generally, by 

 the gentler sex, they are links in many pleasant 

 associations. They are the cherished favourites 

 of our mothers, wives, sisters, and friends not 

 less dear, and connect themselves in our mind 

 with their feminine delicacy, loveliness, and 

 affectionate habits and sentiments. 



