102 THE FIELD AND THE GARDEN. 



in their centre, and bearing in their axils a little white 

 flower. This plant had not attracted her attention, and 

 she seemed pleased at having made so rare a discovery 

 among her weeds. On the other hand, she had not failed 

 to observe a beautiful sandwort, one of the most delicate 

 of nature's productions, with a profusion of small pink 

 flowers upon stalks and leaves as fine as moss. This had 

 planted itself on a rude terrace near the walls of her 

 cottage, where the sandy soil would not permit the growth 

 of more luxuriant plants that would overshadow and de- 

 stroy it. She seemed to admire this little weed as much as 

 her sunflowers, and had taken notice of the fine hues of 

 its corolla, its branching stems, and its leaves terminating 

 in fine bristles. Before we separated I remarked that her 

 weeds required no apology, for after all they were not so 

 numerous as to hold any more than their rightful share 

 of the soil. I confessed that in the neglected parts of her 

 garden I had obtained as much satisfaction as if it were 

 a proud parterre ; that there might be an excess of beauty 

 and elegance in a garden as well as in a dwelling-house. 

 My visit had been an exceedingly pleasant one to me; 

 and I cared no more to see a garden where everything 

 is kept in as nice a trim as the bald pate of a China- 

 man, than to look at the pictures in a barber's shop. 



I soon afterwards entered the grounds of an amateur 

 florist, who showed me a fine array of the most recently 

 imported florists' flowers. He discoursed eloquently on 

 the superiority of certain improved dahlias, compared 

 with other similar varieties that might seem identical to 

 one who is not a connoisseur. He was particularly 

 pleased with some beds of hollyhocks that displayed a 

 great variety of colors and shades, which he had combined 

 so as to produce a beautiful harmonic effect that reminded 

 me of the colors of the rainbow. I could not help saying 

 that I admired the splendor of this exhibition, and the 



& 



