The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-04-22

poetry. l tried it some years ago and
strained my mind and shall not try ii
again. One poem is enough 10 make a man
famous and l have never seen mine I'm
proved upon:
The bull frog beIlers in the bitches.
He's shuffed of his winter britchcs.
The hawk for infant chickens watcheth
And fore you know il one he cotcheth
The lizard is suInin himself on a rail.
The lamb is shaking his new born tail
King cotton has unfurled his banner
And scents the air with sweet guanner
The darky is plowing his stubborn mule
And jerks the line with Gee you fool"
Adown tie creek and round the ponds
Are gentlemen and vaga bonds
And all little dirty sinners
Are digging bait and catching MINERS
That is classic and expressive II
rhymes Well and measures we'll and is
considered the champion spring poem
But l will venture TO make few re-
marks about flowers for as Solomon
saith, The winter is past; the rain is
over and gone. The flowers appear on
the earth the time for the singing OF
birds is come and the voice of the tur-
tie dove is heard in the land" 1t is an
old story that when God made man and
gave him hearing and seeing and taste
and smelling He created birds to sing
for him and please his ears and grass to
grow and herbs and trees to bear him
fruit but Adam wasn't very happy and
said these are all very good but they
cannot love me nor talk to me nor com
fort me when | am sick and sad | am
ha nd II
me- And SO God took pity on him and
created woman and then he was happy
Put woman didn't care to be digging and
hceing and planting and looking after the
sheep and the COWS and so the Lord
created flowers especially for her enjoy
ment. He also taught her to sing and
make music on the harp and hence came
the old tradition that woman and music
and flowers were Gods best gifts to man.
You see that neither flowers nor music
is mentioned in the Mosaic account Of
the creation and tradition says that they
were not made until woman was. 1T is
singular that in some of the ancient
languages the same word that means
woman means flowers too. Among tho
ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians and
Egyptians there was great reverence for
and even idolatry of flowers. The lotus or
sacred lily was worshipped as a god in
Egypt. In Japan the chrysanthem is
equally sacred and nearly all Of their fe-
male children are named for some flow
er. In all countries every temple SER
vice every festival or banquet OF sa-
cred day-every birth or marriage or
death or funeral ceremony calls for a
profusion of flowers. When soldiers went
out to fight and when they returned they
lands; strangers were given flowers when
they came to see you. Every flower had
its meaning and its sentiment, as for in
stance a red rose meant Il love you a
white rose L Will marry you. The Chi
nese make the most lavish use of flow
ers and have Chinese alphabet of flow
ers. No modern nation has such love
and taste for them nor such beautiful
gardens and Japan comes next. China is
called the Flowery Kingdom.
Almost all of the civilized nations have
a national flower. Egypt, Turkey and
India have the lotus. Japan the chrys-
anthcmum. Spain the pOmegranate.
France the iris or fieur de lis Of Louis
VII. Napoleon l tried to abolish it and
put the honey bee instead but the people
rebelied and it is still the iris. Scotland
has the thistle, ireland the shamrock.
Wales the leek Mexico the cactus, Ger
many the corn flower, England the rose,
and the United States none at all In
1889 we tried to make it the golden rod.
but failed. The North voted for tho
trailing arbutus and the rose and some
green house flowers and there was no
flower elected That trailing arbutus
don't trail in this part of the country.
Well, of course, the rose is by univer-
cuff ba n p q
erS
About six hundred years ago the Duke
Of Lancaster chose red rose for his
emblem. His brother, the Duke Of York.
chose a white rose. The descendants Of
these two princes got to fighting for the
crown and it was called the war Of tho
roses. But after awhile the son Of one
married the daughter Of the other and
stopped the war and two roses were
united into one and called the Tudor
rose.
In the eleventh century the Danes made
war upon Scotland and one dark night
planned an attack upon a fortress that
was the key to the whole country. They
took off their shoes and brecches so as
to swim across a mOat that surrounded
the fortress thinking that the moat was
deep and full Of water. But tho Scotch
had nearly filed the mOat with thistle.
and 1t stuck the Danes so terribly that
they yelled in agony and got ont quickly
and the Scotch took them unawares ard
killed nearly all Of them before they
could put on their shoes and brecches.
The thistle saved Scotland. and 50 they
took it for their national flower.
Away back in the centuries, when good
ST. Patrick went to ireland a mis-
sionary he preached to them about the
Trinity and how there were three per
sons in one God and the people laughed
at him and said it was impossible and
they didn't believe II SO the saint
picked up shamrock stem with its three
leaves growing out of if and exclaimed: +
WHY not? Why not? II this little plant 4
can make three from one, why can't God
do it," So he convinced end converted
all that people. and they took the clover