|F all the wonderful things in the won- 

 derful universe of God, nothing seems 

 to me more surprising than the plant- 

 ing of a seed in the blank earth and the 

 result thereof. Take a Poppy seed, for 

 instance : it lies in your palm, the merest atom of 

 matter, hardly visible, a speck, a pin's point in 

 bulk, but within it is imprisoned a spirit of beauty 

 ineffable, which will break its bonds and emerge 

 from the dark ground and blossom in a splendor 

 so dazzling as to baffle all powers of description. 



The Genie in the Arabian tale is not half so 

 astonishing. In this tiny casket lie folded roots, 

 stalks, leaves, buds, flowers, seed-vessels, sur- 

 passing color and beautiful form, all that goes to 

 make up a plant which is as gigantic in propor- 

 tion to the bounds that confine it as the Oak is 

 to the acorn. You may watch this marvel from 

 beginning to end in a few weeks' time, and if you 

 realize how great a marvel it is, you can but be 

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