days, and are quiet and peaceful in the wild death of the winter night.

Think what man's energies and will have done with this continent in three hundred years! Then, wild woods and waste land were everywhere; now, a hundred million people live upon its harvest. Then, only the savage knew its vastness; now, its fruits and foods go round the world. Then, it was banishment for the cultured man to be sent to spend his strength fightng its hardships, and noble women died in sacrfice on the altars of its desolation; now, it is the center of commerce, the home of Art, the land where more people live in plenty than you find in any other land on earth. Every possession and privilege and every luxury of literature and life are trophies of the victory of feeble man over the great forces that fought against the exhibition of his will.

And yet, little that has been done has seemed great in the doing. The men who have wrought the change have nearly always thought their labor mean and hard, for nearly every workman bemoans

the littleness of his task. His vision of the finished miracle is always imperfect, because he remembers only the insignificance of the share that he is doing, just as the workman mixing the mortar grows weary of the day and regards his work as dirty and mean, seldom solacing himself with the picture of the taper spire pointing to the sky, or the columned glory of the vaunted dome. So each workman in the world's true work is apt to forget the issue of the battle that lasts a century, and remembers only how worn and weary he is when his day's work is done.

The opening to human life of the great prairies of the West and the settlement of vast States were made possible by what seems a little thing: that some mensometime, somewhere-took promising specimens of wild grasses and gave them thought and care, judiciously selecting every little ripened shock of seed that looked better than the rest, placing side by side different varieties that seemed the best, letting the insects help them in their work of improvement by fertilizing the different sorts with the pollen of one another, choosing richer land in all experiment. And So through centuries of culture, of patient watchfulness, they developed for our modern use the wheat and maize, without which the prairies would be untilled today, and myriads starving in the old lands instead of feasting in the new.

And yet, the men who worked thought only of the heat and burden of the day, the tediousness of the toil, and never of the growth of the great nation that is changing the destinies of all the men of all the earth.

The beauty that is the charm of the flower may be given to it to help make the lessons of life attractive, and the loving wisdom exhibited in the device to enlist our sympathies is in itself delightful.

We plant the flowers for our adornment and pleasure, and as we watch them unfolding, Nature suddenly awakens within us the spirit of inquiry and experiment by showing us some more highly developed attraction in place of the old charm

we knew so well. The old flower has changed into a new one under our very eyes, and when we ask the reason why, we have explained to us the elements of every successful philosophy-the secret reasons why man can rule all things, and the great laws of life that when obeyed banish the wilderness and cover the deserts with the plentitudes of life. And all are shown in harmonious working-whenever a woman tends the garden flowers with care, or the skilled workman with two blossoms of ordinary beauty makes another one that transcends everything that we have seen before.

Look at the illustrations that accompany this article. In them are shown what in some respect are the greatest achievements of the florist's art. By the kindness of friends-Mr. Pierson of Cromwell and Mr. Arthur Brandegee of Berlin-I can picture for the pleasure of my readers the best specimens of the two flowers more loved than any other-the rose and carnation.

Nothing I have yet seen quite equals the charm of the Liberty rose. I am acquainted with rich, deep, crimson ones, full and sweet as this, but there is a peculiar tint of vermilion mingling with the luster of the crimson petals that light it up with a glow never realized outside a summer sunset. It has a depth of color in it that simply satisfies-not a fiery red that excites, nor a dull tone almost purple or black that hints of decay, but a message of healthful, happy, perfect life. You look at it and think that everything you ever hoped of a flower has come true at last in this. The plant has faults; of course it has. I cannot think that even the angels are quite perfect; there must be some limitations in them. The Liberty rose tries to be too generous in its gifts, and blooms too freely to give each flower a length of stem worthy to bear so large a share of perfect lovliness. But this is perhaps a stimulus to the growers that love roses to work over it until it has no faults left.

The other, the Golden Gate, is of a different character, but quite unique. It is large, shaded somewhat like a Bride rose and like it, white at the base of the

bloom but exquisitly formed, strong and healthy in growth; but special in this: that toward the ends of the petals melted rubies and topazes have been floated in the sap cells, and the light of the liquid gems flames out in every alabaster petal till the whole blossom looks like a gigantic snowflake melting into a rainbow. And to those who, like myself, have grown somewhat weary of the everlasting Brides and Bridesmaids, the new introductions give a fresh impetus to our adoration of the Queen of Flowers.

There are many new carnations, and the popularity of the varieties depends upon some merit and large advertising.

The plate gives the chief of those now before the public, and the one certain thing that can be said about them is, that they are better than the older sorts.

Having no commercial interests at stake, writing of flowers because I love them, I am able to say what I think. And of the much vaunted Mrs. Lawson I must testify that it has been a general failure where I have seen it. Half the plants died in the field, and those that survived produce but a small portion of perfect flowers, and they lack grace and perfume.

Much better is Olympia, a variegated variety with white ground and scarlet stripes, good sheen, and very fragrant. A bunch in a vase has grace and brightness, and the blooms are unequaled in size.

The best all-round carnation I know is the Marion Bower. Its charm cannot be described. The markings are regular, the bloom medium size but perfect in form, and it produces more perfect flowers than any plant I have seen.

Mrs. George Bradt is another of same type, and simply magnificent. No white flower with good treatment excels Mrs. Flora Hill. The Crane is the best scarlet; Gomez, as a crimson, is very satisfactory, though I am told it is excelled by Roosevelt, a new pink of the same color. Ethel Crocker is the best pink yet grown -a soft shell, like the La France rose somewhat very large and having the æsthetic attraction so lacking in the stiff bloom of the Lawson.

One of the most successful hybriders in this State is Mr. James Smith, gardener

to Miss Case of Hartford. Some of his productions rank equal to any in America, but as they are private property they are not generally known. A coral pink that he has named King Edward VII., is the king of all the color ever seen.

Next year I hope to show some of my own hybridizing grown by Mr. Brandegee. We have two, a red and a variegated, and hope they will give us both a measure of floral immortality.

This is my message to the flower-lover everywhere: that all the new miracles of delight are in a sense simple and can be wrought by any one with a little care. Nature's method of producing floral diversity is by insect activity. But the bees and the butterflies do not know just what I want; they are thinking only of honey. I dream of beauty. They take the pollen everywhere. But what I do, and all my readers can accomplish, is simply this: Select two flowers as opposite in their characteristics as possible. See that neither has any radical weakness, unless you have perfect bloom on a weak stem; then choose the plant with the strongest stem and best flower you can find and crossfertilize them both. Raise seed on both plants. Before you place the pollen on the stigmas, very carefully pull every petal out and leave only the ovary and stigmas in the calyx. You can paint the pollen on with a fine camel's hair brush and then leave the plant alone, and watch the seed-pod grow. No matter if you grow roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, or any other variety, the principle is the same for every flower. But remember always to raise your seed from the best. Imperfection, mediocrity, commonness, disease, will take too much care of themselves. They propagate fast enough without being looked after. Your skill always should be given to bestow upon the world something better than it has had before.

What will be your guerdon? I. hardly like to tell you. lest I discourage you too much. If you raise a hundred plants,

most likely ninety of them will not equal either of the parent flowers. That awful law is nearly irresistible. The clever men call it reversion to type, but work it will and who shall gainsay it? I wish I knew the way. Perhaps nine more will be equal to either of their parents-I cannot tell-perhaps ten may be. There is a glorious uncertainty about the matter, we know so little of nature yet. But there may be one, just one, larger in size, sweeter in fragrance, richer in color, fuller in coronal mass, clothed in glad leaves of brighter green that will be pre-eminently the one flower of all the race-having no peer, transcendent and supreme-and the man or woman that gave it life will be envied by the nation, and have within the heart a sense of pride that only comes to those who have done something better than all the world has done before, and opened the door through which a new secret of the universe has walked like a veiled bride, shining in her jewels, crowned with her wreath of brilliant life, before the glad eyes of multitudes who cheer her on her way.

A special court of the Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars was held in March at the Graduates' Club in New Haven. The ex-governor of the society, James J. Goodwin, presided. A committee was appointed to nominate officers for whom votes will be cast at the annual court to be held on May 1st. The present governor is the Hon. F. J. Kingsbury. Professor Theodore S. Woolsey is the deputy-governor, and Charles E. Gross the lieutenant-gov

ernor.

Resolutions were passed on the death of two members of the society-Professor Edward Eldridge Salisbury and Charles Dudley Warner.

A deed of a small piece of land in Hartford, upon which the historic Charter Oak used to stand, has been given to the society, and it is hoped that in time the site will be occupied by a suitable monument.

Members of the Society of Colonial Dames of Connecticut are taking a practical interest in those children who live in localities where there are no public libraries. In 1899 Mrs. Henry Ferguson, assisted by the recording secretary, Mrs. Williston Walker and Mrs. Frank Cheney, instituted the practice of sending out traveling libraries consisting of books especially selected for the use of children. Portfolios of pictures are also sent in the same manner; the pictures, many of them cut from magazines, are carefully selected in regard to their educational value. The subjects include animals, birds, copies of portraits, and famous paintings and reproductions of the masterpieces of sculpture. Both portfolios and traveling libraries are sent upon the application of

$93

school-teachers who then become responsible for the care of them.

The work of the Colonial Dames has been supplemented by Mr. Charles H. Leeds of Stamford who has furnished little libraries for circulation among the older people of these same towns.

Those who are interested in the various branches of this work have had the benefit of advice and assistance from the Connecticut Public Library Committee. This committee is elected annually to look after all matters appertaining to the establishment and maintenance of free public libraries, the members giving their services without compensation. The committee consists of Charles D. Hine, of Hartford, chairman; Caroline M. Hewins, of Hartford, secretary; Storrs O. Seymour, of Litchfield, Nathan L. Bishop, Norwich, and Charles E. Graves, New Haven.

There is a bill now before the Legislature authorizing this committee "to purchase, arrange, and circulate books, traveling libraries, and pictures, to be loaned to public libraries, library associations, study clubs, farming communities, and such individuals as said committee may select." For this an appropriation of $2,000 is wanted.

If this bill is carried through, the Colonial Dames are to be congratulated, as the scheme for which they have labored will become an establised custom; and it I will not be forgotten that with a member of this society there originated the idea of giving intellectual pleasure to those who, living in isolated rural districts, could not have access to the public libraries of the State.

There are forty-four chapters, Daugh

ters of the American Revolution, in the State of Connecticut. The Wadsworth Chapter of Middletown was the first one organized, its charter being dated Feb. 20, 1892. The last to be formed was the Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter of East Haddam, the organization of which took place during the Nathan Hale celebration June 6, 1900.

The latest report gives 3512 as the number of members of the D. A. R. in Connecticut; of these forty-four are living "real daughters.

At the Tenth Continental Congress, held at Washington by the Daughters of the American Revolution, February 18-23, 1901, the forty-seven State regents, as well as the officers of the National Society were elected. It is a pleasure to record for Connecticut, the re-election of Mrs. Sara Thompson Kinney. Her executive ability, tact, and uniform courtesy render her especially adapted to fill the position that has been hers for a number of years.

Appreciative words culled from our correspondence with members of the Daughters of the American Revolution:

From Mrs. John Laidlow Buel, regent of the Mary Floyd Talmadge Chapter: "I am much pleased with the plan of The Connecticut Magazine to institute a news corner from the Connecticut chapters."

Mrs. J. R. Montgomery, regent Sibbil Dwight Kent Chapter, writes: "I am. pleased to know that the State chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution are to be given a little space in your magazine.”

From Mrs. Mary A. Hepburn-Smith, regent Freelove Baldwin Stow Chapter: "I certainly think our chapters should be in touch with your magazine.

"I have from the first been much interested in The Connecticut Magazine and hope it may have abundant success along all lines that it so well deserves. "Very cordially yours,

"Mary P. Clark,

orative work in the purchase of the old Groton Heights not enclosed within the boundaries of Fort Griswold. In the little monument house the members of this chapter have started the sale of historical china, and have obtained an appropriation of $300 per annum to be used for the house. Valuable relics of the past have been received, and through the exertions of the reading club, composed of New London members of the chapter, many armorial shields have been added to the decorations on its walls.

On April 11, 1895, the chapter determined to undertake the forming of societies of Children of the American Revolution. The regent, Mrs. Slocomb, was appointed State Director for Connecticut, and under her able management the work has been crowned with success.

Having discovered that Connecticut was without a legalized emblem to float over her personal belongings, this chapter memorialized the State Legislature on the subject, and, with expressions of gratitude and thanks, received assurance from both houses of the Assembly, that when a State flag should be adopted, the Anna Warner Bailey Chapter should have the honor of presenting the first legalized banner to the State. This was done at Hartford Aug. 12, 1897.

One hundred and fifty copies of by-laws have been presented to this chapter by the regent, Mrs. Slocomb. On the occasion of a reception at the latter's home, the hymn, "For Home and Country" was first introduced to the public and has since been adopted as the State hymn of the D. A. R. At the meeting of this chapter on January 8th, resolutions of sympathy were passed on the death of Miss Eugenia Washington, to be forwarded to the National board.

A committee was appointed to attend to the prizes offered to school children for the best short essays on Colonel William Ledyard and Captain William Latham, the local heroes of the Revolution.

Miss Lillian Whipple read Whittier's poem "On the Death of a Friend,' while members of the chapter were signing a memorial to be sent to the bereaved Queen of Italy. This document will be suitably prepared by Tiffany and delivered in person by a member of the chapter. A bond of union has been made between the women of Italy and America by the Countess di Brassa, herself an American. The latter has done much to help the Italian peasant-woman by introducing their beautiful hand-made lace for sale in this country.

Miss Amanda Allen read an original poem, after which Miss Emma Woodbridge Palmer proposed the following

toast: