Various

“ Standing alone, or when used as a dividing garden hedge it presents a most charming appearance. When the flowers are faded, the neat, glossy green leaves are pretty, and as Autumn approaches the golden fruits shine brightly beautiful among the foliage. There is a variety which produces delicate pink flowers, or light salmon color, shading to white; but the flowers are not so profusely abundant as those of the scarlet. There is also another variety with very brilliant rosy red flowers, which are produced in great abundance, and whose fruit is larger and more showy than that of the scarlet. ”

“ The very rich have their conservatories and plantations, the well-to-do in London their greenhouse and their parterre, the humbler lovers of all green things their fern-case and flower-stands; but the dwellers in the one back room, the weary city clerk with his limited salary, his many mouths to feed, and his circumscribed house-room, have only their window garden—their long wooden box, enriched it may be with gaudy tiles—wherein to plant their childhood’s favorites and keep the color of God’s carpet green in their memories. ”

“ There is required for the growing of roses in their perfection a something that is not to be found in books. “Poets are born, not made” it is said, and there is somewhat of the same truth in this matter of growing roses. The perfection of the art is the outcome of a devotion that ever burns but never consumes. Deep down in the secret chambers of the heart it is continually glowing, and when to other eyes the rose is no longer a thing of beauty, in the days of the “sere and yellow leaf,” it waits tenderly and lovingly upon the object of its devotion. ”

“ We have some obstacles to overcome in the cultivation of the rose which are quite unknown to her devotees in England. Our mid-summer suns are so scorchingly hot that our roses soon lose the richness of their fresh tints. To enjoy the full beauty of the rose, to see it in the freshness of its coloring, while the delicacy of the tints is yet unimpaired, one should stroll through the rose grounds at sunrise, before the dew-drops are exhaled, and see the flowers unfolding to the morning light. ”

“ The rose is a type of infinity because there is no limit to the variety and beauty of the forms and colors which it assumes. From the wild rose, whose sweet, faint odor is wasted in the depths of the silent wood, or the Eglantine, whose wreaths of fresh sweet blossoms embroider even the dusty road sides, to that most perfect, full, rounded, and odorous flower that swells the heart of the florist as he beholds its richness and symmetry ”

“ What blossoms could bloom on the breast of the youthful beauty so typical of the infinity of hope, and sweet thoughts that lie folded up in her own heart, as fair young rose buds? What wreath could so lovingly encircle the head of the bride, as that of white roses, full of purity and grace? And, last of all, what blossoms, so expressive of human affections, could we find at the bier, to take the place of the rose? ”

“ Nor is it beautiful only when the slender branches are wreathed throughout with white roses in miniature; all through the Summer bright glossy leaves clothe its graceful form, which change when Autumn comes on to yellow and orange, and red and scarlet, with such a variety of coloring, and tints so glowing and yet so harmoniously blended, that now it seems to have become the burning bush, the eye rests upon it with a new pleasure, and the heart wishes that it might remain thus forever. ”

“ And indeed, with the hundreds and thousands of roses of modern times, we still know little of all the varied shapes which the plant has taken in by-gone days, and which have perished with the thousand other refinements and luxuries of the nations who cultivated and enjoyed them.
All this variety of form, so far from destroying the admiration of mankind for the rose, actually increases it. This very character of infinity in its beauty makes it the symbol and interpreter of the affections of all ranks, classes, and conditions of men. ”

“ When the exhibits were finally arranged, the grand gathering of apples, pears, plums, peaches and grapes was a most magnificent sight, and told a tale of the fruit producing capacities of our country, for which every true Canadian may well be grateful. It is something indeed to have one’s lot cast in such a land as ours. Such rich and luscious fruits, beautiful to the eye and exquisite to the taste, in such variety and profusion, are not the least among the valuable products of our soil and climate. ”

“ Of infinity! says our most innocent maiden reader, who loves roses without caring why, and who does not love infinity, because she does not understand it. Roses a type of infinity! says our theological reader, who has been in the habit of considering all flowers of the field, aye, and of the garden too, as emblems of the short-lived race of man. Yes, we have said it, the secret of the world’s devotion to the rose, of her being the queen of flowers by acclamation and forever, is that the rose is a type of infinity. ”

“ Such is their naturalness and air of vivacity that one never tires of them. You enjoy them to-day, and to-morrow they greet you with such a look of welcome, and hold up their pretty faces to you with such a winning grace that you linger longer than yesterday. You cannot tell which to admire the most, the modest bashfulness of that double white which peeps out to you from under the leaves, or the challenging boldness of that single pink, whose laughing eye meets your gaze so roguishly. Double or single, white, pink, magenta or carnation, they have each their beauty, both of flower and leaf. ”

“ Who has not noticed the eager fondness of children for fruit? There is scarcely anything that delights them more. If then a few rods of ground devoted to small fruits will contribute not only to the health but to the happiness of your children, will it not pay? Will not anything pay that makes home more attractive to your children? Home, with its delightful memories, not the least of them the visions of delicious strawberries, and fragrant raspberries, and scarlet currants, and huge blackberries, and clusters of grapes. ”

“ If there is any proof necessary that the rose has a diviner origin than all other flowers, it is easily found in the unvarying constancy of mankind to it for so many long centuries. Fashions there have been innumerable in ornaments of all sorts, from simple sea-shells worn by Nubian maidens, to costly diamonds, that heighten the charms of the proudest court beauties; silver, gold, precious stones, all have their season of favor, and then again sink into comparative neglect, but a simple rose has ever been and will ever be the favorite emblem and adornment of beauty. ”

“ The trees are growing in a gravelly loam, with a clayey bottom, and sheltered on the west by an apple orchard. The fruit is large, very uniform in size, and evenly distributed through the tree; the appearance, when ripe, is very handsome, the color being a pale lemon yellow, with splashes of crimson on the sunny side, and occasional patches of russet. The flesh is very fine grained, buttery, and juicy, with a very agreeable, sweet, vinous flavor. It ripens before the Bartlett, and like all summer pears, will not last long; indeed to be enjoyed at all, must be quickly consumed. ”

“ It is a true revelation, in apples, of a capacity for flavor which we might look for in some rare tropical fruit, than in an apple from the extreme north. It is not a sweet apple, it is a deliciously sugared apple, as its name indicates, with a distinct aromatic acidity beneath the saccharine, like, yet unlike, the highest flavored strawberry. The season of Fameuse Sucre is from the middle of September until the last of October, or later. The tree seems as hardy as Fameuse; it is upright in growth, it spreads but gradually, its branches bear the bright gloss of health. ”

“ And surely it is well thus to mark, that coming generations may remember the birth-place of an apple that has had such a history, that having stood the test of a century, is still a most popular and valuable fruit, that is sought after in the markets of the old world as well as the new, that has contributed so much to the comfort of the human race in so many lands and in so many climes, and that promises to continue its beneficent mission for centuries yet to come, gladdening alike the eye and heart of childhood and age. ”

“ Coming into leaf while the other shrubs just described are in flower, its dark purplish-red leaves seems to bring out and heighten the beauty of their several colors; and when the flowers upon the others have passed away, the rich purplish coloring of these leaves remains, contrasting pleasingly with the glossy green foliage of its neighbors. All the Summer long the leaves retain this purple hue, making it one of the most showy of our colored leaved shrubs, giving beauty and richness to the grounds as a shrub that is ever in flower. ”

“ The Duchess of Oldenburgh has proved itself to be one of those varieties which can bear without suffering a very intense degree of cold, and yield an abundant crop of good sized, handsome looking, and truly valuable apples; and which can therefore be confidently recommended for planting in any place where an apple tree can be expected to grow. The tree is hardy, not only, but vigorous, forms a handsome rounded head, and is truly an object of beauty when the broad glossy-green foliage is set off in contrast with the bright showy fruit. ”

“ They are attractive indeed, arresting the attention of every passer-by, and drawing from all expressions of admiration and delight; not only because of their beauty, but on account also of the delicious fragrance which fills the air, and is carried for some distance by the winds.
The Single Scarlet variety is exceedingly showy and very fragrant, producing its flowers in great profusion, so that they quite hide the foliage. ”

“ Early in the morning, and again just at evening, when the rays of the sun fall aslant, the trees of this variety are lit up with a peculiar glow that must be seen to be appreciated, words have no power to express the exceeding charm of their beauty. ”

“ Perhaps education and prejudice may retard her work, but the time is not distant when men will “fling around her conquering footsteps more lavish praises and perfumed flowers than ever wooed with intoxicating fragrance the fairest butterfly of the ball-room or opera.”
No healthy woman, from Queen Victoria down to the beggar at the door, has a right to live with nothing to do. God never put a human being on earth to waste a life, or indeed a single hour. ”

“ Passing the homes of our thriving farmers, the tidy lawn, or if you please, door-yard, bright with blossoming shrubs and trees of beauty, is yet the exception. There is a reason for this, and that reason pays no compliment to our taste or refinement. Away with the thought that refinement is to be found only in the city, that country cousin means something wanting in the appreciation or expression of grace and beauty. ”

“ They are the true Canadian daughters who thus labor to make home attractive, and secure the love of father, the approval of mother, the affection of brother, and finally gain for themselves, as a just reward, the deep and lasting love of the appreciative man, who has been watching and waiting to take as his wife to his own home, the girl who knows so well how to strew life’s thorny path with beautiful flowers. ”

“ By what powers of perception was this butterfly enabled to tell that this plant, which she had never seen before, that cannot endure our climate but must be kept in a warm greenhouse, belonged to that genus of plants which were the proper food of her young? We attain to such knowledge only by much study and comparison; she sailing past on careless wing, without having read the first lesson in botany, knows the foreigner to be a milk-weed, and stops to deposit her eggs upon it, that when the young larvæ hatch out they may have suitable food at hand. ”

“ The Dean of Westminster, other dignitaries of the Church, highborn ladies, and people of wealth and leisure, have done much lately towards fostering this growing feeling among all classes by giving prizes for the best plants grown in dingy back yards and smoky garret-rooms; and it is as astonishing as it is touching to find how, like a human being, the little plant adapts itself to its surroundings, and throws out its beauty and fragrance in return for a little patience and tender care. ”

“ It is excellent as a cooking apple, and as valuable for the dessert, pleasing to the eye by reason of its beauty, and delighting the palate with its exquisite flavor. In the markets it always commands the highest price of any of its season, and on that account may be profitably grown in limited quantity for a convenient market.
It is not desirable to multiply fall-ripening varieties of apples, indeed we already have too many of them for profit. ”

“ Last fall I met a man selling fruit trees, and notwithstanding the fact that the well informed fruit growers and the State Horticultural Society have repeatedly recommended for general cultivation nothing but the Duchess of Oldenburg and Wealthy in standard apples, and a few of the best crabs, still that man had orders for trees that he knew would not be successful in that rigorous climate, I solemnly looked him in the face and said, “You have a fearful amount of cheek to sell these trees to farmers?” ”

“ Of the summer sorts we name first of all one that is probably well known to every one of our readers, one that has been the companion of our childhood’s happiest hours, and fraught with many, many memories, the Cabbage Rose. It is yet one of our very prettiest roses, double to the perfection of fulness, and its petals suffused with blushes. ”