A TALK WITH FLORA AND POMONA. 19 



freshness of the ruddiest strawberries raised by Mr. Longworth's 

 favorite old Cincinnati market woman ; and there was a bright 

 sparkle in her eye, that assured us there is no trouble with the cur- 

 culio in the celestial orchards. 



But if we were charmed with the ruddy beauty of Pomona, we 

 were still more fascinated by the ideal freshness and grace of Flora. 

 She wore on her head a kind of fanciful crown of roses, which were 

 not only dewy moss roses, of the loveliest shades imaginable, but the 

 colors themselves changed every moment, as she turned her head, 

 in a manner that struck us quite speechless with admiration. The 

 goddess observing this, very graciously remarked that these roses were 

 the true perpetuals, since they not only really bloomed always, but 

 when plucked, they retained their brilliancy and freshness for ever. 

 Her girdle was woven in a kind of green and silver pattern of jas- 

 mine leaves and starry blossoms, but of a species far more lovely 

 than any in Mr. Paxton's Magazine. She held a bouquet in her 

 hand, composed of sweet scented camellias, and violets as dark as 

 sapphire, which she said her gardener had brought from the new 

 planet Neptune ; and unique and fragrant blossoms continually 

 dropped from her robe, as she walked about, or raised her arms in 

 gestures graceful as the swinging of a garland wooed by the west 

 wind. 



After some stammering on our own part, about the honor con- 

 ferred on an humble mortal like ourselves rare visits of the god- 

 desses to earth, etc., they, understanding, probably, what Mr. Beecher 

 calls our " amiable fondness for the Hudson," obligingly put us at 

 our ease, by paying us some compliments on the scenery of the 

 Highlands, as seen at that moment from our garden seat, comparing 

 the broad river, radiant with the chaste light of the moon, to some 

 favorite lake owned by the immortals, of whose name, we are sorry 

 to say, we are at this moment entirely oblivious. 



Our readers will not, of course, expect us to repeat all that passed 

 during this enchanting interview. But, as we are obliged to own 

 that the visit was not altogether on our own behalf, or rather that 

 the turn of the discourse held by our immortal guests showed that 

 it was chiefly intended to be laid before the readers of the Horticul- 

 turist, we lose no time in putting the latter en rapport. 



