THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
199 
request, because other duties seemed more pressing; but 
how will it be then, when we cannot grant the request ? 
The fact of our cheerfully and patiently performing the 
more important duties will not soften the pangs of regret 
for the neglect of the lesser ones. 
DELIGHTS. 
One does not need to be very observing—in fact, it 
is not necessary to go beyond one’s own garden to see 
delights and regrets strangely mingled. The two usually 
go hand in hand ; wherever we find the former in excess, 
the latter is also predominant. It is an old and very true 
saying, that the more we have the more we want, and 
nowhere is this truth more manifest than in the garden. 
W]|o ever saw the possessor of one hundred varieties of 
roses, gladioli or any other flower, content if the collection 
was not complete. If there are a given number of varie¬ 
ties, and the specialist has all but one, that one will cause 
more regrets than all the others will give delight. We 
like to see every man have a hobby and enjoy it. It 
stimulates him to noble exertion, he feeds his desire from 
every quarter of the globe, and we profit by his experi¬ 
ence. The lily fancier boasts of his many varieties of a 
given species, and invites us to his feast. We gladly ac¬ 
cept his invitation, as it enables us to select the best 
dozen for our garden—the limit of our desires. The rose 
fancier must have a Baron de Bonstetton and a Mon¬ 
sieur Boncenne in his collection, and fancies there is a 
difference in color or form between them, until the rose 
congress decides the names synonyms. Yet the same rose 
fancier is a useful man, because he is an educator—he de¬ 
velops a taste and a desire for the rose. 
However, it was not of hobbies or specialists that we 
intended to speak, but of the pleasures of a well-ordered 
garden. 
August should be a month of true del’ght in the gar¬ 
den. Our work is all in the background, and before us is 
the expected reward. Many things have been left un¬ 
done, and many but poorly done; but all has been at¬ 
tempted, and our whole plans have been carried on in the 
proper spirit, and with an earnest desire to do our best. 
The failures and disappointments which have befallen 
us, or which are still before us, are small compared 
with the pleasure we have enjoyed in our noble efforts 
and the success which is promised; and we have little to 
complain of, for we do not expect unmingled joy and 
satisfaction. 
Our delights have not been the results of our posses¬ 
sions, so much as the deep and earnest love we have for 
the flowers and their culture, and in our determination 
not to be without them in the future. It is not the num¬ 
ber of varieties we have, neither is it the size and extent 
of our possessions, which gives the garden a power to 
bestow pleasure. It is the perfection of its arrangements, 
the healthful condition of its flowers and the love we bear 
for them that makes them beautiful. We need not now 
state what we have so often stated before, that to obtain 
the purest delight in the garden it must be the work of 
our own hands, of early and late attention, of personal 
devotion and love; for love it is that makes the flowers 
grow, as it does everything else that is beautiful. ' 
Let us take a glance at our garden and its arrange¬ 
ments, make a partial inventory of what we have, but 
more particularly of what we may have next year. Our 
geraniums are all strong, healthy and full of bloom, im¬ 
mense trusses of semi-double flowers, the best possible 
kinds for display. They are generous to us because we 
were liberal to them. We gave them a deep, rich bed, 
tucked the earth gently but firmly around their roots; we 
trained them as we would train a child, to go as we de¬ 
sired, seemingly from their own choice. Now they cover 
the beds completely, and they have nothing else to do but 
to look beautiful and impart pleasure. 
Our hardy carnations, were there ever any so beauti¬ 
ful ? They are next in true loveliness to the rose; and 
how easy are they of cultivation ! We sowed the seed 
last year in August, and the plants were strong and 
healthy before the ground froze ; we covered them barely 
over their tops with newly-fallen leaves, which were kept 
from blowing away by brush laid over them, and in 
spring, as soon as were were convinced that pleasant 
weather had come to stay, we raked away the leaves and 
found our plants, as we had expected, ready and anxious 
for a new life. About the middle of May we transferred 
them to a bed specially prepared for them, and they have 
afforded us more true pleasure than we had supposed 
could exist in a flower. We had, from a single paper of 
seeds, flowers of every color to be had in the carnation, 
in both double and single forms. The English gardeners, 
who make a specialty of this flower, have made the fol¬ 
lowing classification of the several types: Bizarres, 
Flakes and Picotees. The Bizarres (which means sin¬ 
gular) have a white ground, with irregular spots and 
stripes of two colors. The Flakes have a white ground, 
with large and entire stripes of a single color. Picotees 
have a white or yellow ground, but with the edges pen¬ 
cilled with shades of rose or purple. Pinks form a 
separate class, although all of the above are called pinks. 
Their distinctive characters are : The broadest part of 
the outer portion of the petals, white and distinct from 
the eye, unless, indeed, it be a laced variety. The eye 
ought to be bright crimson or purple, and the darker the 
better. This dark eye and the white previously de¬ 
scribed, should be quite proportionate to distinguish a 
good pink. 
Our gladioli please us immensely; the main planting is 
in the extreme of its glory, and the plants we have shaded, 
as all should be in this sunny clime, have thrown up 
flower-spikes that we did not suppose the bulbs capable 
of producing. The satisfaction the gladiolus has afforded 
us in years gone by stimulated us to more liberal culture. 
We dug deeper, enriched more liberally, and the result is 
spikes of bloom that would put to shame such as we pre¬ 
viously thought superb ; we have profited by the experi¬ 
ence of the specialist, without sharing his expense ; we 
do not possess every known variety; neither have we 
labelled each one with its distinctive name, but we have a 
collection that fully satisfies our desires, and that is say¬ 
ing considerable. The specialist enjoys the possession of 
a thing; we enjoy its beauty. He must have a complete 
collection ; we must have a choice one, and he has helped 
us to obtain it. 
Our dahlias are, as yet, simply promises; but we know 
