^Prarfiral yiapirultupp. 
HE hand that made such bountiful provision for the body, 
was not unmindful of the aesthetical cravings of the 
higher nature of man, so He hath filled the air with 
bird -music for the delight ol the ear, and hath planted 
the fields and hung the boughs with blossoms that paint 
themselves in a multiplicity of hues for the gratification 
of the eye. The two latter we gather around 11s in 
our homes, and the songsters sing their sweetest strains 
regardless of the prison bars, while the flowers, during 
their short lives, yield both beauty and fragrance from 
their fragile bells as a reward to the hand that careth for and cherisheth them. All 
the world love flowers, and are all the better for that love, for the soul is refreshed 
while the eye is pleased with their contemplation. Children delight in them; by 
them young men and maidens interchange compliments; and to the aged they speak 
of a beautiful home beyond the tomb. The wealthy pride themselves on their con¬ 
servatories and flower-bedecked lawns; people in the middle walks of life like to have 
a few in their windows or on a stand devoted to the purpose; and even the dingy 
cottages of the poor are not infrequently adorned with at least a single plant, often 
the only link apparently that binds the inmates to the beautiful. 
Having devoted a very considerable space to the Language and Poetry of Flowers, 
the author has thought that some practical information, drawn mainly from her own 
experience, in relation to the care and cultivation of plants, would prove a useful 
addition to the work. For however one may admire flowers, through a mere natural 
impulse or instinct, the cultivation of them requires taste, tact, patience and much pains¬ 
taking attention. And even these qualities, to be only measurably successful, demand 
a solid substructure of information in regard to the wants, peculiarities and habits of 
plants. It will, however, be remembered by every thoughtful reader that there are 
but few things in this world worth knowing that do not require much patient atten- 
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—I 
CA* - 
TTT. 
~T~r 
