The Floral Instructor. 
FLOWERS —HOW TO GROW 
THEM. 
BY THE EDITOR. 
The culture of flowers is the most 
interesting occupation in the world, a 
never ending source of delight. Where 
else can we find for the body and mind 
a recreation so beautiful, so instructive, 
or that will afford more lasting pleasure, 
than by tending and properly carine for 
a few of the emblems of God’s love 
which he has given to us ? What you Id 
the world be without flowers ? A. drea¬ 
ry land, I think. But thanks to the all¬ 
wise Creator we find them everywhere. 
On mountain top, in shady dell, ’midst 
towering rocks and along the banks of 
rippling brooks flowers abound. They 
are as free as the air we breathe, and 
who shall say that they do not teach of 
our Father’s love, wisdom and wondrous 
power ? Whose hand but His could put 
the exquisite coloring into the'Jacque¬ 
minot Bose, or design the curious pet¬ 
als of the Passion Flower ? Beautiful 
objects as these are to the naked eye, 
how much more so do they become 
even under the simplest form of a mi¬ 
croscope. We may take the keenest 
razor that can be obtained, place it 
under a microscope, and the edge will 
appear jagged, coarse and rough, in 
brief, full of imperfections. But not so 
with Nature’s handiwork, for the more 
critically it is examined we are forced 
to exclaim, “ 0 Lord ! how manifold are 
thy works ; in wisdom hast thou made 
them all.” 
The culture of flowers teaches indus¬ 
try. patience and hope. No one can ex¬ 
pect flowers to grow on hard, unculti¬ 
vated ground; hence we must spade it 
or plow it, then industriously weed it, 
or else our plants would soon be chok¬ 
ed up. We sow the seeds in hope that 
they will spring up and reward our care 
o 
by producing beautiful flowers, and we 
must cultivate the virtue of patience 
because some plants are great slug¬ 
gards, while the tendency of men and 
things in this age is to be in a hurry. 
The industry with which this recreation 
has been pursued, shows itself plainly 
in the great number of highly improved 
plants which adorn the gardens of the 
present day, in contrast to those which 
were cultivated some sixty years ago. 
Take tor instance the Pansy, a flower 
that is universally known and loved the 
world over. It is only half a century 
ago, or perhaps a little more, that the 
improvement began in this little flower 
which has brought it into everybody’s 
favor. Again, a few years ago there 
were but very few books or magazines 
published devoted to flowers ; now there 
is hardly a periodical but that has at 
least one or more columns relating to 
the subject, while floricultureal books, 
magazines and catalogues are scattered 
broadcast all over the land. Many of 
these are highly embellished with beau¬ 
tiful engravings, which create a desire 
for possession of plants thus pictured. 
In this way the florist’s business has as¬ 
sumed enormous pronortions, so that it 
is quite common to meet with a green¬ 
house in a town of a very few hundred 
inhabitants. It is a healthy occupation, 
and to prove this, I have known ladies 
who fancied themselves so completely 
out of health that they have wished for 
death. In several instances which have 
come under my observation, where the 
invalid could be induced to take a little 
exercise daily among the flowers, it had 
the effect of the patient wanting to do 
something—to set out a plant here, to 
Dull a weed there, to scratch the surface 
of the soil with a little rake—and while 
they were doing this they were slowly 
and surely returning to health. The 
slight action necessary to labor with the 
