SEPTEMBER. 
261 
order to give room during the winter. Early in spring, when one can 
trust Scarlet Geraniums, &c., in frames, I then can repot into larger 
pots. This, I dare say, is not orthodox, but it suits my purpose. Take 
care of the autumn rains; they are decidedly injurious to most potted 
plants. All revoir. 
Deal, August 18, 1857. D. 
OLD HUMPHREY. 
Reader, have you ever enjoyed the privilege of perusing the writings 
of “ Old Humphrey ? ” Whether your answer be “yes” or “ no,” 
you may perhaps feel inclined to ask in return, “ What has Old 
H umphrey to do with flowers ? ” Grant me a little patience, and I 
think I shall be able to show at least a remote connection, and one 
probably bearing on your interests and pleasures. Let me confess at 
the outset that I cultivate flowers for profit, but not for profit only, for, 
like most lovers of flowers, I have my pet plants, which serve to amuse 
my leisure hours, and conduce to other than pecuniary gain. In my 
early youth I was, through the kindness of friends, made acquainted 
with the works of “ Old Humphrey,” and many are the solitary 
hours I can look back upon as pleasurably and profitably spent in their 
perusal. Manly simplicity of style, earnestness of purpose, cheerfulness, 
buoyancy of thought, and confidence in things unseen, constitute the 
charm of his many writings. Of the various subjects on which he wrote, 
let us hear, what he had to say on flowers. 
“ON FLOWERS. 
“How many gratifications do we daily enjoy! and how dispropor¬ 
tionate is our gratitude to the Father of Mercies, when compared with 
the number and magnitude of his favours ! The skies above our heads, 
and the earth beneath our feet, are beautifully adorned by heavenly 
hands! The balmy gale breathes health around us; the brook and 
the crystal spring pour forth their refreshing and invigorating streams. 
By day the glorious sun gilds the creation with his beams, and by night 
the silvery moon and the glittering stars shed their grateful lustre. 
“ There are many things which give pleasure to age but impart no 
enjoyment to youth; and others, which afford a gratification to the 
young, which the aged cannot share. The rich can procure pleasures 
which the poor cannot obtain, and the poor man enjoys advantages that 
the rich cannot purchase ; but some things appear equally to delight the 
old and the young, the rich and the poor: and among these may be 
mentioned flowers. Yes, whether flowers flourish in the garden or 
bloom in the greenhouse, whether they are scattered over the pathway, 
sprinkled on the verdant banks, or widely strewn over the mountains 
and the valleys, they never fail to please ; they impregnate the air 
with their sweetness, and delight the eye with their exquisite beauty. 
“ Think of the flowers that you have gathered, smelt, and gazed on, 
and then ask yourself if you have been sufficiently grateful for the 
pleasures they have afforded you. 
“ Sweet it is to enter the greenhouse filled with elegant blossoms, where 
