JMiddkscx Ilorlicultural Society. 173 



but a inngiiificent bed may be composed of some two or three 

 dozen kinds. Great skill is requisite in properly planting and 

 cultivating these, and, to form a just conception of their true 

 merits, one should visit the fine collections in the vicinity of 

 Boston. Those sold annually at auction are the refuse from 

 the seedling beds in Holland, and can, in no possible degree, 

 compare with full grown bulbs. A bed of hyacinths may be 

 grouped in such a way as to present a most unique appearance. 

 A harmony of colors may be produced, according either to 

 the principles of taste, or according to the culturist's fancy. 

 Beside the oriental hyacinth, there are others of humbler merit, 

 and now little seen, except in old gardens and rare collections, 

 such as the grape, the feather, and the musk hyacinths. 



Of tulips, I need say little in commendation. To realize 

 something of their true glories, you must visit Mr. Walker's 

 collection, and the like in possession of some of our amateurs, 

 while a host of fritillaries, irises, lilies, martagons, jonquils, 

 narcissi, with ranunculi and anemones, and many native lilia- 

 ceous flowers, bring up the rear of the bulbous array of brave 

 and noble flowers. 



The second era of the seasons is that of the Pansy. This 

 exquisite flower has never, until a few years, been much culti- 

 vated. The genuine pansy is said to be a native of South 

 Europe, and distinct from the V. tricolor^ or heartsease. 

 There can be little doubt regarding their intermixture, and 

 probably many, if not most, of the present numerous varieties 

 are hybrids. The old blue grandiflora may yet be found 

 among us, and seldom makes seed. This, and the old pure 

 white were for some time the only two known in our gardens. 

 The progress of this flower since is curious. While on a visit 

 to Montreal, eight years since, I saw in the gardens of that 

 city a very fine variety, with purple petals, and a golden edge. 

 Having procured seeds, they were given to the Botanic Gar- 

 den at Cambridge, and from them was reared a similar, called 

 by the gardener in honor of some royal character, whose cog- 

 nomen, (no flattering respect by the way,) I have forgotten. 

 This was soon noticed by Mr. Walker, and with the two first 

 mentioned and a hybrid; the culture of the finer sorts, begun in 

 this vicinity, under the skill of the pansy grower of Roxbury, 

 in eight years realized some thousand varieties, of every sort 

 and hue. The pansy has also been imported from England, 

 but with scarcely any success. Thus of a lot imported by Mr. 

 Walker, the extreme tip of a single kind, as he assured me, 



