314 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
It would be a difficult question to give the use to man 
of all weeds ; many are already used in medicine, and 
others in the arts and manufactures ; some are .used as 
food and in the adulteration of food ; some are useful 
for their fibres; others for dyes; and, no doubt, if neces¬ 
sity demanded it, many others might be utilized. 
Warren H. Manning. 
Reading, Mass. 
THEY NEITHER TOIL NOR SPIN. 
They neither toil nor spin; they wear 
Their loveliness without a care; 
As pure as when the Master’s feet 
Were set amid their perfume sweet. 
The summer hills rejoice to see 
Tlieir carven censers swinging free. 
They wait within the gates of dawn 
Till all the watching stars are gone, 
Then open cups of honey-dew, 
To greet the morn’s returning hue. 
O fair, wise virgins, clothed in white; 
O Lilies, fresh from looms of light, 
I dearly love you, for the word 
That stars you, noted of the Lord. 
I love you when, in gold and red, 
The sunset colors o’er you spread; 
Or when, like fairy sails of snow, 
The river rocks you too and fro. 
You are the Master’s flowers to me; 
His smile upon your grace I see. 
My transient discontents I hush, . 
If but my garment’s hem ye brush. 
And everywhere your fragrance brings 
This message from the King of Kings. 
“We neither toil nor spin, and ye 
Who spin so long and wearily, 
“ Who toil amid earth’s grime and dust, 
Behold—a hallowed arc of trust. 
“ Oh, pause and hear the Father say 
His angels are your guides to-day ! 
“ While'worlds in matchless order move, 
Ye shall not slip from sovereign love; 
“ For He who bids the planets sweep, 
Cares for the tiniest babe asleep.” 
—Margaret E. Sangster. 
LILIES AND THEIR CULTURE. 
This is the season to make a Lily bed and stock it, if the 
best results are to be attained. We cannot add to what 
we have frequently said in favor of the Lily as a border 
plant, or say anything new in regard to its culture. 
That the genus contains some of the most rare and 
beautiful flowering plants under cultivation, all, who 
know anything of the relative beauty of flowers must 
admit. And, moreover, that as a class, they are of 
the easiest culture, no one of practical experience will 
deny. At the same time complaints of partial or total 
failure are often made by those who would gladly grow 
them could they succeed. Very.many attempt to grow 
Lilies without the slightest knowledge of their require¬ 
ments, and therefore naturally fail, and as they must 
attribute their failure to some cause and are not willing 
to admit that it is due to their own ignorance, they in¬ 
variably claim that it is the soil, and so Mother 
Earth has co take the responsibility. Poor Mother 
Earth! as noble as was her birth, and as generous as 
her life has always been, carrying and sustaining every 
living Greature without a murmur, she is constantly 
abused for the sins of those she feeds and protects. 
What soils do Lilies require, or in what kind do they 
succeed best? are questious we hear from every quarter 
To many these seem vital points; tome the character of 
the soil is a secondary consideration; the condition of 
the soil is what causes success or failure to a great de¬ 
gree. We have grown Lilies in all kinds of soil, from 
the heaviest clay to the lightest sand, and have met 
with success and failure in each case. Our preference 
is for a light loam; failing in that. w T e take whatever is 
the most convenient, knowing full well the soil that 
will yield an abundant crop of garden vegetables or 
field crops, will also produce Lilies and other flowers as 
well. It is a great mistake to suppose that each and 
every plant must have a soil with certain specific char¬ 
acters for its perfect development. It is true that any 
given plant will do better in a soil congenial to it, and 
it is equally true that the same plant will do well in a 
great variety of soils. The soil contains certain elements 
essential to plant life, the atmosphere the others: the 
two acting in harmony in the production of the plant. 
So, whether you have a clayey or a sandy soil, you will 
have an atmosphere that will act in harmony with it, 
in either case the results will be the same; in the one 
you will have to use more manure, in the other more 
labor to reach the same end. 
But can all the species be grown in the one soil ? is a 
