42 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
tation as a seed-grower has been justly earned, and will be 
sustained so long as he exercises the same watchful care 
in the protection of his business as he did in building it up. 
In the catalogue sent us by Wm. Henry Maule, Phila¬ 
delphia, Pa., the principal features are vegetables in va¬ 
riety, remarkable for size and quality, the result of careful 
selection and good cultivation. There are many kinds in 
the different classes that we do not know by the names 
given them, but from the descriptions furnished, the dis¬ 
tinctive names are not misapplied ; surely the 
New Mammoth Onion, “ Silver King,” of which there 
has been grown 900 bushels to the acre, a single Onion 
often weighing three pounds, entitles it to a prominent 
place in the list of remarkable vegetables. 
The Ironclad Watermelon, about which there has 
been no little discussion, and which has obtained a pre¬ 
mium for a specimen weighing ninety-five and a half 
pounds, is another specialty, and there are many things 
listed which are worthy of trial. 
L. W. Goodell, Amherst, Mass., sends us a catalogue of 
selected flower seeds, making the Pansy a leading article, 
and of which he offers more than forty named varieties. 
Beach & Co., Richmond, Ind.—A finely illustrated and 
very tempting catalogue of Roses, Greenhouse and Bed¬ 
ding plants. The Rose is the leading plant offered, and 
this we notice in its various classes, carefully selected. 
Among the “New Roses,” we find the 
Perle d'Or, a new yellow Polyantha Rose, similar in 
character and habit of growth to Anne Marie de Mont¬ 
ravel. The flowers, however, are larger, and if possible 
produced in still greater numbers than those of that valu¬ 
able variety, but the great difference lies in the color, 
which is a beautiful nankeen yellow with vivid orange 
centre; the petals are slightly imbricated and overlap 
each other, giving the flower a very double appear¬ 
ance. 
This firm is said to have one of the largest and best 
managed Floral establishments in the West. 
THE PLEASURE OF FLOWERS. 
(Read before the New Jersey State Horticultural Society, at their Annual Meeting, December 30, 1884.) 
F LOWERS are of all embellishments the most beau¬ 
tiful. So much has been said and still remains to be 
said, about their influence on man and his surroundings, 
that I do not hesitate to say they are a part of every 
one’s birthright. The love for them commences with in¬ 
fancy and continues until death. They are distributed 
over the entire world, springing up in every forest and 
glen, cropping up by the roadside and in every nook. It 
is only where mechanical man has laid his iron hand and 
blotted out the face of nature that flowers do not grow; 
but this does not stamp out the love for them, from the 
fact of their being so much a part of nature, for it is this 
that keeps them so constantly foremost in our affections. 
There is no education required for us to learn to love 
flowers; we have only to note their influence on a troop 
of poor neglected children, such as can be found , in the 
humble quarters of thickly populated cities, how their 
faces light up with joy ar.d their eyes sparkle with delight 
at the very sight of a bunch of flowers carried in the hand 
of some passer-by. These children have not had as much 
education, in all probability, as to be told that flowers 
grow; yet their very sight kindles in their hearts that love 
that cannot and does not die. How fortunate are we 
who can always see flowers; they give us pleasure and 
enjoyment that no money can purchase—a pleasure with¬ 
out price ! This leads us to say some things practical 
about flowers. It is truly said that the man who makes 
two blades of grass grow where only one grew before is 
a benefactor. I say the man or woman who makes a 
flower blossom anywhere is a true friend to all. Some 
may say the enjoyment of flowers is one thing and the 
growing of them another. I say that the common-sense 
application which produces a healthy animal existence 
applies exactly to the production of healthy plant life. 
It would be absurd to set a hen on a nest of eggs in the 
middle of a snow-bank and expect a brood of chickens. 
It would be equally as absurd to subject flowers to as 
great improprieties and expect them to thrive. The love 
for flowers is, no doubt, beyond question, and what is 
more, the management of flowers is becoming better 
understood and more intelligently applied. When I look 
around and see the progress floriculture has made in ten 
years, I feel that I have made a mistake and the time is 
not ten but a hundred years, so great have been the strides, 
yet there remains much to be done. The masses are 
beginning to learn that whatever care is properly bestowed 
bears fruit a hundredfold ; there is yet much to learn, and 
it is the duty of us all to stand boldly out and give all the 
information that lies in our power. There is an immense 
field open for improvement, and this improvement should 
be made by comparing notes, by consulting the best 
authorities, by personal contact, and the diffusion of right 
ideas. It is such bodies as the New Jersey State Hor¬ 
ticultural and other kindred societies that help along the 
good work. We want to talk to the people in such a 
manner as to be easily understood. We must aim not to 
write over them, but whatever we do write should be 
instructive and to the point. We want to encourage the 
meeting together and the interchange of ideas. We want 
to support all practical journals such as are not trammeled 
by individual whims or corporative influence. It is to 
the practical men we have to look for much support, most 
of whom are willing to tell what they know. 
The numerous classes of flowers from every quarter of 
the globe and from many altitudes are widely different 
in charac er requiring much study for their best welfare. 
The canons of successful cultivation require to be care¬ 
fully studied and carried out, and are as necessary to the 
welfare of flowers, as are the laws of a nation for the 
administration of justice. 
The nearer to the requirements, the nearer to perfection. 
"Selections should be made as far as possible with the 
