If the American Farmer have no taste for flowers, his wife and daughters may; and this part of the book can, at any rate, do him no harm.

Under the head of Flowers come flowering trees and shrubs; and, therefore, I must, in this place, say a little of these and of ornamental gardening. It is by no means my intention to attempt to give an account of all the flowers that come into the florist's catalogue. That catalogue, with only a very short description of each flower, would fill ten volumes, each surpassing this in bulk.

I do not blame the taste of those who study botany, and who find pleasure in the possession of curious trees and plants; but, all that I shall attempt, is, to speak of those flowers that stand most prominent as to their capacity of making a beautiful show and of sending forth fragrance.

As to the spot for flowers, the smaller kinds, and even small shrubs, such as roses, dwarf honeysuckles, and the like, may be planted by the sides of the broad walks in the kitchen garden, or, a little piece of ground may be set apart for the purpose. In cases where there are what are usually called pleasure grounds, large shrubs, and, if the grounds be extensive, lofty trees come in. And, in the placing of the whole of the trees and plants, the most lofty should be farthest from the walk.

As to the manner of sowing, planting, transplanting, and cultivating, what has been said of fruit trees and of garden vegetables and herbs applies here. The ground must be good, well tilled, and kept clean, or the plants and flowers will not be fine.

Before I proceed to the Alphabetical List, let me again observe, that I merely give a selection, such as appears to me to be best calculated for gratifying, at different seasons, the sight, or the smell, or both. That there is a great deal in rarity is evident enough; for, while the English think nothing of the Hawthorn, the Americans think nothing of the Arbutus, the Rhododendron, the Kalmia, and hundreds of other shrubs, which are amongst the choicest in England.

Nay, that accursed stinking thing, with a yellow flower, called the "Plain Weed," which is the torment of the neighboring farmer, has been, above all the plants in this world, chosen as the most conspicuous ornament of the front of the King of England's grandest palace, that of Hampton Court, where, growing in a rich soil to the height of five or six feet, it, under the name of Golden Rod," nods over the whole length of the edge of a walk, three quarters of a mile long and, perhaps thirty feet wide, the most magnificent perhaps, in Europe.

But, be not too hasty, American, in laughing at John Bull's king; for, I see, as a choice flower in your gardens, that still more pernicious European weed, which the French call the Coquelicot, and the English, the Corn Poppy, which stifles the barley, the wheat, and especially the peas, and frequently makes the fields the color of blood.

This is quite sufficient to show the power of rarity in' affixing value on shrubs and flowers. The finest flowering trees and shrubs in England have been got from America. The Wild Cherry, which they call the bird cherry, which here grows sometimes to the height of a hundred feet and one of which I can now see from my window more than seventy feet high; the Locust, most beautiful of trees and best of timber; the Catalpha, blossoms far more beautiful than those of the horse chestnut, broad and beautiful leaves that do not scorch in the hottest sun; all the beautifully blowing Laureltribe; the Rose of Charon (as it is called here) and the Althea Frutex; the Azalia of all colors; Roses of several kinds.

But, there is one shrub of the larger kind, abundant here, that I never saw there, and that is the thing which some call the Morning Star. It has six leaves in its flower, which is in the form of the flower of the single rose. The whole flower when open, is about three times the circumference of a dollar. Some of the trees bear blossoms quite white, and others blossoms of a whitish peach blossom color. These blossoms come the earliest in the spring. They are out full, in Long Island, in the first week in May, which is rather earlier than the peach blossoms.

In England, they would be out fill, on an average of years, in the last week of February, which is an anticipation of all their shrubs. The trees, which is a great quality, thrive well under other trees, which, indeed, seems to be their nature.

You see, from a great distance, their bright and large blossoms, unaccompanied by leaves, shining through the boughs of the other trees; and some of them reach the height of forty feet. This, therefore, is a very fine flowering tree; and yet I never saw one of the kind in England.

How beautiful a grove might be made of this tree, the wild cherry, the Locust, the Catalpha, and the Althea frutex! And here they are all, only for the trouble of sowing; for from the seed the tree will surely come.

I shall now proceed to give an Alphabetical List of such flowering Trees, Shrubs, and Plants, as I think worthy of cultivation; or, rather, that I myself would wish to have about my house, or in my garden.

As I go on I shall state some particulars here and there relating to propagation and management: but, to be very particular would be superfluous, seeing that such full directions have been given in the former parts of the work, as to the sowing of all seeds, great as well as small; as to the raising of trees and plants from cuttings, slips, layers and suckers, and as to cultivation and tillage.

Flowers are divided into annuals, biennials and perennials. The first blow and die the year they are sown; the second blow the second year and then die; the third sometimes blow the first year and sometimes not, and die down to the ground annually, but spring up again every spring I have not made separate lists; but have included the whole in one Alphabetical List.

There are sixty trees, shrubs and plants altogether; and, if properly cultivated, these will give a grand bloom from May to November.