THE JOY OF A GAUDEN. 
73 
heliotrope, geranium, lady-pea, heartVease—all sweet- 
scented flowers ! Moved by their beauty, I wrote a 
short note, to which this is the reply. Just like her¬ 
self !— 
“ ‘ I should not love my flowers if they did not put 
forth all the strength they have, in gratitude for your 
preserving care last winter, and your wasted feelings 
over the unavoidable effects of the frost that came so 
unexpectedly to nip their blooming beauties/ ” 
If the toils of a garden were not to be ranked among 
the highest pleasures of life, their reward would be found 
in the joy of giving away the fruits of our labours, for 
in this, above all things, the words of Holy Writ are 
lovingly verified, that “it is more blessed to give than 
to receive.” 
Then look at the knowledge one gains in all this. 
The gardener must learn the exact limits of adaptability 
in the vegetable kingdom, so as to make plants of oppo¬ 
site habit and different constitution, natives of diverse 
climes, and naturally accustomed to soils of the most 
heterogeneous nature, prosper side by side in one com¬ 
mon soil and climate. He must learn how to subdue 
luxuriance in one, and promote it in another; how to 
hasten this plant into a state of rest, and how to prolong 
the growth of another beyond its natural season; for it 
is by such coaxing, forcing, checking, and persuading, 
that we are enabled to adapt to our own peculiar seasons 
and temperature, so many interesting productions of the 
world; and whether they come from the regions of 
everlasting snow, or from the burning jungles of the 
tropics; whether from the cool clefts of alpine solitudes. 
