THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
167 
creeping, and against weeds as well, or his garden will be 
a dreary waste. . The question now to be answered is, 
which will come out ahead in the race, the man, the weed 
or the worm ? This month will decide the question, for 
a neglected garden in June will not show a smile later in 
the season, and he who outwits the enemy now will be so 
liberally rewarded for his labor that his garden will be a 
continual feast until after frost, and then the dried grasses 
and flowers that ornament the house during winter will 
be memories of the pleasures of the past summer’s work. 
And the seeds, carefully saved and stored away, will be 
prophecies of another year’s joy and happiness in the 
garden. * 
* * 
The New York Horticultural Society.—The May ex¬ 
hibition was another of those agreeable surprises that we 
sometimes meet in Horticultural Hall. Not for its vast¬ 
ness was this exhibition conspicuous, but for the rare and 
beautiful objects that presented themselves at every point. 
The casual observer would not have been particularly 
impressed with the general appearance of the room—in 
fact, at first sight the display seemed meager. But careful 
examination revealed some of the rarest of the rare sub¬ 
jects to be found on the exhibition tables. At every step 
something of interest was to be seen, either plants par¬ 
ticularly well grown and well shown, or some old favor¬ 
ites whose absence from exhibition halls for so long a 
period has entitled them to positions as novelties. We 
could not understand the coming together of so many 
lovely forms, unless it was from the fact of foreclosure of 
the hall and its sale at public auction; the flowers may 
have been sent in as memorials by loving friends. Not 
that the society is dead ; it is only homeless and desti¬ 
tute. It is the interest that should be felt in the society 
that is dead ; its head is slightly congested, and if neces¬ 
sary must be taken off and supplanted with a more active, 
vigorous growth. The health of societies is analogous 
to the health of plants; when the head is dead the 
branches soon wither and decay, the flow of sap ceases, 
and the structure begins to show signs of dissolution. 
But all weakness is not death by any means; it is only a 
temporary depression of spirits ; the body corporate needs 
a tonic, perhaps a nervine, possibly amputation. Then 
there will be found sufficient vitality in the body to awaken 
it to new life and vigor. We are fully convinced that 
there is sufficient taste and love for the beautiful in and 
around New York, not only to sustain but to build up a 
society beautiful in itself, and one whose refining influ¬ 
ences will be felt in the building up of human character. 
We wish to speak plainly in this matter, so as not to be 
misunderstood: there is no sympathy between the head 
and the other members of the body, and until all parts 
can work in the most perfect harmony this listless, life¬ 
less existence the society now has will continue. We 
fervently hope some day to see the New York Horticul¬ 
tural Society have a head that will act with the heart; 
then it will occupy the position to which its natural ad¬ 
vantages entitle it. * 
* * 
Trailing Arbutus.—It is our good fortune now to live 
where the trailing arbutus (Epigcea repens'), one of the 
most exquisite of all Nature’s fondlings, grows in the 
greatest profusion and luxuriance, and where we can pick 
again and again until we have more than satisfied our 
own desires and those of our friends, and we are very 
greedy when the arbutus is in bloom. We have just re¬ 
turned from the woods, heavily laden with pink flowers, 
and pure white, and white suffused with pink. What a 
treat is a day in the woods, wandering up and down with 
pleasant associates, searching, plucking and arranging 
these most beautiful of all blossoms! The past winter 
has been a trying one on these delicate though hardy 
forms. In many places the leaves are browned to a crisp, 
without the least signs of life; in other places they are 
not much hurt, and every branch bears a cluster of these 
delicious flowers, whose beauty we dare not attempt to 
describe, so we will borrow from “Eyes and Ears,” 
where H. W. Beecher speaks of the arbutus as follows : 
“ Who would suspect by the leaf what rare delicacy was 
to be in the blossom ? Like some people of plain and 
hard exterior, but of sweet disposition, it was all the more 
pleasant by surprise of contrast. All winter long this 
little thing must have slumbered with dreams , at least of 
spring. It has waited for no pioneer or guide, but started 
of its ownself, and led the way for all the flowers on the 
hillside. 
“ Its little viny stem creeps close to the ground, humble, 
faithful, and showing how the purest white may lay its 
cheek on the very dirt, without soil or taint. 
“ The odor of the arbutus is exquisite, and as delicate as 
the plant is modest. Some flowers seem determined to 
make an impression on you. They stare at you; they 
dazzle your eyes. If you smell them, they overfill your 
sense with their fragrance. They leave nothing for your 
gentleness and generosity, but do everything themselves. 
But this sweet nestler of the spring hills is so secluded, 
half-covered with russet leaves, that you would not sus¬ 
pect its graces did you not stop to uncover the vine, to 
lift it up, and then you espy its secluded beauty. If you 
smell it, at first it seems hardly to have an odor; but 
there steals out of it at length the finest, rarest scent, 
that rather excites than satisfies your sense. It is coy, 
without designing to be so, and its reserve plays on the 
imagination far more than could a more positive way.” 
* 
* * 
Editor Ladies’ Floral Cabinet: 
I believe the persimmon fruit is popular in America; 
have seen the Dzospyros Kaki of Japan. We have fruited 
it in a cold orchard house ; the fruit becomes apparently 
ripe, but is then astringent; when allowed to go a stage 
farther it becomes sweet and luscious. The fruit was 
lately figured in the Garden , and spoken of enthusiastically. 
We have recently flowered a gorgeous orchid, Phceris 
tuber calosus, which, it is said, has only once or twice 
before bloomed in this country ; it comes from Madagas¬ 
car, I believe. I quote the description from the Journal 
of Horticidture: “The spike sent had ten flowers and 
buds, the expanded flowers being three inches in diameter 
[hardly this, G. F. W.], the sepals and petals pure 
white and wax-like in substance, the lip is scoop-shaped, 
with revolute sides, which are yellow with numerous 
