150 



cheep ! ! cheep ! ! ! " I envy the deaf, and the 

 fat men who drown all other sounds with the 

 sound of their own wheezing. My neighbor's 

 parrot, who yells like all the fiends of Dante's 

 Inferno, has at least the merit of variety in his 

 voice. If the sparrow continues to multiply, 

 there will be a new verdict rendered at coroners' 

 juries ; his monotonous cry is fast abbreviating 

 the allotted span of mankind. 



Meanwhile, the floral procession is advancing 

 in the flower-borders. The large Oriental pop- 

 pies are rightly named, and, with their fine 

 foliage and immense flame-colored blossoms, are 

 undoubtedly the most gorgeous of garden-flow- 

 ers. You could almost light your pipe from 

 them. The variety bracteatum is the stouter 

 grower, holding its stalks more firmly and erect, 

 and is the superior in the color and beauty of 

 its lustrous, dark scarlet flower. The petals of 

 the Oriental poppy are oddly marked with pur- 

 ple-black spots inside, forming a black cross. 

 Parkman's Oriental poppy, originated near Bos- 

 ton, is another fine form, as yet rarely seen. 

 The Oriental poppies and the yellow day-lily, 

 blossoming at the same period, should be large- 

 ly employed in the border and other suitable 

 places of the garden. 



I have planted the tall, late-flowering tulips 



