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When the eye is weary of the expansive grandeur of field and forest, 

 it finds grateful relief as it rests upon the simple beauty of the modest 

 flower. In this there is such a combination of charms, that it seems 

 as if the Great Architect had designed to present in minature, all those 

 beauties which he has scattered over the varied works of nature. Here 

 is the soft outline of the mountain range on the distant horizon — the 

 rich velvet of green woods — the light and shade of hill and dale — the 

 rainbow on the bosom of the soft summer cloud — ^he indescribable blend- 

 ing of beautiful hues ; in short, there is an endless variety of col jrs 

 matchless perfection and delicacy of structure. Beauty so exquisite 

 cannot fail to attract and please the cultivated and refined, and to charm 

 the pure and good. All such persons will delight to see their homes 

 adorned with flowers — the choicest of nature's beautiful productions. 



The concentration of vital force in the germ, is calculated to impress 

 the mind with wonder and admiration. An ounce of mixed seed may 

 produce a sufficient number of plants to cover an acre with bloom 

 throughout the season, embracing, perhaps, many thousand varieties, 

 some of them perpetuating themselves for years. These minute germs 

 may have been gathered from every zone, thus affording those who never 

 pass the limits of the State in which they were born, the fairest pro- 

 ducts of all lands. No other portion of the peculiar natural charms of 

 distant lands can be thus domesticated ; a fact which is so appreciated, 

 that many who have but a little plat ot ground, revel amid the lovely 

 forms and delicate aroma that greet the more favored traveler in the 

 antipodes. 



It is inspiring to watch, day by day. the developement of tnese 

 wondrous and matchless structures. The noble stems that spring from 

 a tiny seed — the delicate folding of the leaves of the calyx around the 

 flower — the rapid swelling of the flower as it verges to its bloom — the 

 gauze -like attenuations of the corolla — the various hues and delicate 

 tinges — the slender yet perfect filaments that form the reproductive 

 organs of the plants, ihe persistency with which the plant forms new buds 

 throughout the season, if its flowers are plucked — all inspire us with 

 interest and wonder, and extort the reflection, that '• God has made 

 everything beautiful in its season. '■ No wonder that the common consent 

 of mankind attril)utes to each flower, a language which is universal. 

 In the cultivation of flowers, each one can indulge his peculiar fan- 

 cy, and each one's character will represent itself in the taste indulged. 

 Some of stern, conservative mould will be gratified with the plain and 

 hardy p<M-ennial — perhajis the tall, coarse and ostentatious varieties. 

 Others of fine taste and mure delicate perceptions, will patiently rear 

 the minutest and most evanescent annuals, that, blooming for a few days 

 only, shall livt- in the fancy a.-* the fairy children of thought, till their 

 yearly ri'tiirn — a higher, jiurer joy with eacli annual companionship. 

 The motives to the cultivation of flowers, are as various as the tastes 

 of mankind. They arr the simplest and lea.st expensive ornament of 



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