SO ■ FLORAL DECORATIONS. 
' It is a curious fact to note, in this connection that, in the 
German part of Switzerland the church-yards are called 
“ Rose Gardens.” 
Mr. Fortune, the celebrated horticultural traveller, 
says:—“The flowers which the Chinese plant on or 
among the tombs are simple and beautiful in their kind. 
No expensive Camellias, Moutans, or other fine ornaments 
of the garden, are chosen for this purpose. Sometimes the 
conical mound of earth—when the grave is of this kind— 
is crowned with a large plant of fine, tall, waving grass. 
At Ningpo, wild Roses are planted, which soon spread 
themselves, over the grave, and, when their flowers expand 
in spring, cover it with a sheet of pure white. At Shanghai 
a pretty bulbous plant, a species -of Lycoris, covers the 
graves in autumn with masses of brilliant purple When I 
first discovered the Anemone Japonica, it was in full flower 
amongst the graves of the natives, which are round the 
ramparts of Shanghai ; it blooms in November, when other 
flowers have gone by, and is a most appropriate ornament 
to the last resting place of the dead.” | 
To' name some of the best and most valuable flowers for 
graves we would first notice the Snowdrops,which are quite 
hardy everywhere, and are the first flowers of spring,peep¬ 
ing even through the snow and displaying their pure white 
