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sion, and infinite variety of flowers. Some admirable reflections upon this subject we subjoin, in the language of an interesting and eloquent writer on Natural History1: The attentive observer will perceive that every plant upon earth appears in its appointed order. The God of Seasons, the God of Beauty and Excellence, hath exactly determined the time when this flower shall unfold its leaves, that spread its glowing beauties to the Sun, and a third hang down its drooping head, and, withered, "resign its sunny robes.' A few weeks ago we first saw the snowdrop rise in lowly clusters from the ground. Long before the trees venture to unfold their leaves, and while Winter yet ventures to maintain his dreary reign, it displays its milk-white flow'rets to the

eye:

First leader of the flowery race aspires,
And foremost catches the Sun's genial fires,
Mid frosts and snows triumphant dares appear,
Mingles the seasons, and leads on the year.

TICKELL.

'Next appears the crocus, too timid yet to resist the impetuosity of the winds. With this comes the fragrant violet, the expressive emblem of that retiring goodness, which, with unostentatious hand, contributes silently to the happiness of all around.

The

polyanthus, too, with countless colours, and the auricula, inestimable for the exquisite richness of its powdered tints, demand the skilful culture of the florist. These, with many others which grow in foreign countries, upon the mountains, may be called, without impropriety, the vanguard of the flowery host.

These beauteous children of Nature do not appear all at once, but in the most enchanting regularity of succession. Each month displays the beauties peculiar to itself. Soon succeeds the tulip, the transient glory of the garden; the anemone, encircled at the bottom with a spreading robe, and rounded, at the

The Contemplative Philosopher.

top, into a beautiful dome; and the ranunculus, which displays all the magnificence of foliage, and charms the eye with such a brilliant assemblage of colours. Nor lingers behind the rose, the favourite flower of poets, which glows with its own vivid tints, and diffuses around its aromatic sweets; while the carnation, as if centering in itself the perfection of every flower, attracts the wanderer by that lustre and, variety of hues, and that fragrancy of scent, which entitle it to a kind of pre-eminence over the most beautiful of the painted tribes. But, not to proceed with the later flowers of the year, I will conclude my observations on this head with Thomson's picturesque recapitulation:

At once arrayed

In all the colours of the flushing year,
By nature's swift and secret-working hand,
The garden glows, and fills the liberal air
With lavish fragance.

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Along these blushing borders, bright with dew,
And in yon mingled wilderness of flowers,
Fair-handed Spring unbosoms every grace;
Throws out the snowdrop and the crocus first;
The daisy, primrose, violet darkly blue,
And polyanthus of unnumbered dyes;

The yellow wall-flower, stained with iron-brown;
And lavish stock that scents the garden round;
From the soft wing of vernal breezes shed,
Anemonies; auriculas, enriched

With shining meal. o'er all their velvet leaves;
And full ranunculus of glowing red.

Then comes the tulip race, where Beauty plays
Her idle freaks; from family diffused
To family, as flies the father-dust,

The varied colours run; and, while they break
On the charmed eye, th' exulting florist marks,
With secret pride, the wonders of his hand.
No gradual bloom is wanting; from the bud,
First-born of Spring, to Summer's musky tribes:
Nor hyacinth, of purest virgin white,
Low bent, and blushing inward; nor jonquil's
Oft potent fragrance; nor Narcissus fair,
As o'er the fabled fountain hanging still;
Nor broad carnations, nor gay-spotted pinks;

Nor, showered from every bush, the damask-rose.
Infinite varieties, delicacies, smells,

With hues on hues expression cannot paint,

The breath of Nature, and her endless bloom.'

What an inexhaustible source of grateful admiration does this regular succession of flowers present! What manifest displays of Divine Wisdom and ever aetive Goodness! Were all the flowers of the different seasons to bloom together in one gay assemblage, we should sometimes be overpowered with profusion, and at other times lament a total privation. Scarce should we be able to discern one half of their innumerable beauties, when the eye, with unspeakable regret, would witness their decay. But while its proper time and place is allotted to every kind of flower, this delightful succession enables us to contemplate them with greater convenience and exactness. We can often repeat the pleasing examination, enjoy all their beauties at our leisure, and form a more intimate acquaintance with them. This wise arrangement of Providence affords us another inestimable advantage. We not only view the various kinds of flowers as they flourish in the most beautiful perfection, but we become less sensible, on this account, of their transient duration. The early flowers flourish awhile, and wither; but a variety of new kinds is constantly springing up, to prolong the beauty of the garden, and, as it were, to perpetuate our plea

sure.

The infinite variety of flowers is not less a subject of admiration than their regular succession, and equally evinces consummate wisdom and design.Had there been an exact uniformity in the structure, form, and colour, the fragrancy and other properties of flowers, that uniformity would have become fatiguing, and we should soon have languished for the charms of novelty. Or, if the summer were to be productive of no other flowers than what adorn the spring, we should not only become weary of contemplating them, but neglect to bestow upon them

the necessary care of cultivation. The Divine Goodness is indeed apparent, in having diversified the productions of the vegetable kingdom in such a delightful manner, as to add to their perfections the charms of a variety ever pleasing and ever new. This diversity is not discernible only in the different families of flowers, but it is to be seen, moreover, in the individuals. While the carnation is different from the tulip, and the tulip from the auricula, each carnation, each tulip, and each auricula, has its peculiar character, with its particular beauties and varieties. In each there is something original. In a bed of tulips or carnations, there is scarce a flower in which some difference may not be observed in its structure, size, or assemblage of colours; nor can any two flowers be found in which the shape and shades are exactly similar.

Some flowers rear their lofty heads, as if in proud pre-eminence over others, that rise to a moderate height, or keep their humble station near the ground. Some glow with the most gaudy colours, while others charm the eye with their elegant simplicity. With what masterly skill are the varying tints disposed; magnificently bold in some; in others delicately faint; laid on in these with a kind of negligence, and adjusted in those by the nicest touches of art! Some perfume the air with the most exquisite odours; while others are content to delight the eye, without gratifying the sense of smell. In fine, we behold that successive beauty, that pleasing variety, and that endearing novelty in flowers, in comparison of which all the works of art must appear insipid and disgusting.'

The marine plants which flower this month, and which are chiefly found on sea-shores and in the crevices of rocks, are, buck's horn (plantago coronopus), burnet saxifrage (pimpinella dioica), sea arrowgrass (triglochin. maritimum) on muddy shores; the

Flowers the whole summer.

clammy lychnis (lychnis viscaria), the cerastium tetrandrum; scurvy grass (cochlearia), sea kale (crambe maritima) on sandy shores; the sea-cabbage (brassica oleracea), the sea stork's bill (erodium maritimum), the slender bird's foot trefoil (lotus diffusus), the mountain flea-wort (cineraria integrifolia) on chalky cliffs; and the sedge (carex arenaria) on sea-shores.

The leafing of trees, which is, usually, completed in May, takes place in the following order: (1) The willow, poplar, alder, and other aquatics; (2) The lime, sycamore, and horse-chesnut; (3) The oak, beech, ash, walnut, and mulberry; but the whole of the third number are not in full leaf till next month'. Cattle are usually sent to the pastures on old May day; and the juices of the young springing grass contribute to render the milk of the cows more abundant and of a finer quality. The dairy now occupies attention:

Slow rolls the churn, its load of clogging cream
At once foregoes its quality and name;

From knotty particles first floating wide,
Congealing butter's dashed from side to side;

Streams of new milk through flowing coolers stray,

And snow-white curd abounds and wholesome whey.

This is the season in which cheese is made; the counties most celebrated for this article are Cheshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire.

The corn is benefited by a cold and windy May, as it is too apt to run into stalk, if the progress of vegetation be much accelerated by warm weather at this season. In late years, some sowing remains to be done; and in forward ones, the weeds should be well kept under.

Mr. Stillingfleet in his Tracts (p. 142) gives the following as the order of the leafing of trees and shrubs, as observed by him in Norfolk; January 15, Honeysuckle. March 11, gooseberry, currant, elder. April 1, birch, weeping-willow; 3, raspberry, bramble; 4, briar; 6, plum, apricot, peach; 7, filberd, sallow, alder; 9, sycamore; 10, elm, quince; 11, marsh elder; 12; wych elm; 13, quicken tree, hornbeam; 14, apple tree; 16, abele, chesnut; 17, willow; 18, oak, line; 19, maple; 21, walnut, plane, black poplar, beech, acacia robinia; 22, ash, carolina poplar.

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