IS 
PLEASURES OF GARDENING. 
thing in this way may be occasionally required on the same general 
principles as we see judiciously applied to forest trees. 
Superstitions with regard to the blossoming of Plants. —The 
Crocus was dedicated to St. Valentjne, as it appears about the period 
of that Saint’s day, which is regarded as peculiarly sacred to affec¬ 
tion. St. Valentine is recorded to have been eminent for love and 
charity. One species of daisy appears about the time of St. Marga¬ 
ret’s day; this is called in France La Belle Marguerite, and in Eng¬ 
land Herb Margaret. 
The Crown Imperial blossoms in England about the 18th of 
March, the day of St. Edward, King of the West Saxony ; nature 
thus, as was imagined, honouring the day with a royal flower. 
The Cardamine or our Lady’s flower, distinguished for its pure 
white, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 
The St. John’s wort blossoms near that Saint’s dav. The Scarlet 
Lychnis, called the great Candlestick or Candle, (Candelabrum in- 
geros) was supposed to be lighted up for St. John the Baptist, who 
was a burning and a shining light. The white Lily expands about 
the time of the annunciation, affording another coincidence of the 
blossoming of white flowers at the festivals consecrated to the mother 
of Christ. The roses of summer are said to fade about the period of 
St. Mary Magdalen’s day. 
The Passion Flower is said to blossom about Holy Rood day. 
Allusions to this day being frequently found among writers of for¬ 
mer days, it is said that, according to the legends of the Romish 
Church, the cross on which our Saviour was crucified was discovered 
in the year 326, by Helena the mother of Constantine, who built a 
church on the spot where it lay. The word Rood signifies the cross, 
thus this day is the day of the Holy Cross. 
Of the various agents by which vegetables are nourished, water is 
thought most important. Some plants grow and mature with their 
roots immersed in water, without any soil; most of the marine plants 
are of this description. 
Atmospheric air is necessary to the health and vigour of plants ; 
if a plant be placed under a glass into which no air can enter, it 
withers and dies. 
Most plants are found by analysis to contain a certain portion of 
salts such as nitre, and muriate of soda (chloride of sodium) or com¬ 
mon salt. It appears that the root absorbs therefrom the soil by 
which it is nourished. 
No Plants can grow without some degree of heat, though some re¬ 
quire a greater portion of it than others. 
