1*73. ] 
AUTUMNAL FLOWERING PLANTS. 
179 
ing, in it another instance of the tenure on 
which he holds his portion on earth ; that the 
ground and the things that grow out of it do 
not yield to him their advantages, without the 
labour of his hands and the exercise of his 
intelligence. 
“ I have no wish to place the occupation of 
the florist above its natural mark, but I am 
sure that, in itself, in all its branches, it is un¬ 
deserving of any reproach, unless it be one to 
feel the beauties God has created for our plea¬ 
sure, and to draw them forth from the obscurity 
in which He has hidden them, by the means 
He has appointed for the purpose. The samo 
objection which is made to cultivated varieties 
of a natural flower would equally condemn the 
diamond to remain in obscurity in the mine 
where God has placed it, and would stigmatise 
the adventitious splendour it derives from cut¬ 
ting and polishing at man’s will as an interfer¬ 
ence with nature. It may be—we know not; 
but it is neither impossible nor violently im¬ 
probable—that before sin entered into the 
world, when the earth gave forth her increase 
without labour, the flowers may have spon¬ 
taneously exhibited that standard of perfection, 
an approach to which the florist now labori¬ 
ously aims at drawing forth from. them. It 
may have been the same, too, with the harvest 
of the field and the fruits of the orchard; and 
that varieties of both, as incomparably superior 
in kind as superabounding in quantity to any¬ 
thing we now see, may have been on their pro¬ 
gress to maturity, to call forth the thanksgiving 
of pure hearts, had those hearts continued 
pure. And such may also be in store for a 
future period. But in the meantime, we know 
that labour is enjoined, and that not of the 
hands alone, but of the brow; an expression 
which seems to betoken what is certainly true 
in fact, that to obtain the riches of the soil, a 
trial of mental skill is required on the part of 
man, a putting forth of the resources of his 
intelligence, to overcome the reluctance of 
nature to rise up to its capabilities. And 
whether his ingenuity be exercised on the corn, 
on the fruit, or on the flower, it is rightly 
exercised; and the results are additions to the 
sum of human pleasures, which the Creator 
himself has not thought beneath His care. 
(1.) Unity: infringed in idea, by a 
plurality of equivalent parts. In out¬ 
line, by intervals—by abrupt changes. 
' (2.) Variety [effects of straight lines and 
curves] : of form—of number—of 
colour. 
f Best dependent on characteristics of the 
flower and mode of colouring. Actually, 
hemispherical the most perfect. Other 
b examples. 
Must be bright, distinct. 
(1.) Combination, if in natural agree¬ 
ment. And this is distinct, clouded, 
or compound. 
(2.) Contrast, if in natural contrariety. 
b Comparison of the two modes. 
Iota. 
Synopsis of the Essay on the Philosophy of Florists' Flowers. 
BEAUTY in a 
flower is pro- ■{ 
duced by 
I. Form, 
consisting of 
outlines, 
general and 
subordinate. 
1. Absolute, 
requiring 
2. Bulative. 
1. In General, 
or separately, 
1 
II. Colour. -{ 2. In Union; must be 
I in juxtaposition, and 
mutually adapted; ] 
b producing, 
Province of Taste includes all not restricted by necessary laws of Nature. 
AUTUMNAL FLOWERING PLANTS. 
f WO of the prettiest flower-beds that we 
had in the gardens here at the middle 
of October, were filled with early autumn 
flowering Chrysanthemums and herbaceous 
Anemones. The Chrysanthemums were planted 
out in a large oval figure, with Sensation, a varie¬ 
gated-leaved sort, at 10 in. apart, as an edging, 
next to the grass. The colours of four sorts 
were arranged inside this, as follows,—white, 
blush, purple, and yellow, the latter occupying 
the centre. They were all, at that period, a 
mass of blossom, tho stems of the flowering 
sorts being completely hidden by the dense 
mass of vai’iegated foliage, which reaches from 
the surface to a height of 15 in. The group, 
when viewed at a short distance off, was most 
effective. 
The other bed was planted with Anemone 
japonica round the edge, as being the dwarfest 
grower; Ilonorine Jaubert , a white-flowered 
variety, with reddish stamens, and of Conti¬ 
nental origin, was planted next; while the centre 
was made up with A. japonica hybrida , a light 
purple variety, of garden origin. These three 
n 2 
