I am glad to be able to agree heartily with "Veronica" on the subject of floral wreaths and crosses at funerals. A custom overdone often brings its own condemnation. A few flowers or even sprigs of foliage upon the coffin is quite a different matter, and should be encouraged. Not only should the floral offering be emblematic, but its bestowal should be purely personal. Of course, all could not give from their own gardens, as too many have neither gardens nor flowers, but in most cases a mere handful is not difficult to obtain, and if only by purchase, then be it so. A modern reformed funeral devoid of the now stereotyped wreaths and crosses would hardly lack sweetness or picturesqueness did each one present carry a little bunch of something leafy or floral to cast as an offering upon the coffin of the departed. Casting flowers upon the coffin, even though they be presently buried, is more desirable than leaving wreaths and crosses upon the grave to wither and decay. Planting growing plants that will produce beautiful flowers upon graves is a pleasant custom and one that cannot be too strongly advocated.

Tending them is a labor of love; they are always emblematic of the "hope which springs eternal in the human breast," and they enliven with their sweetness and beauty the habitation of the dead. - A. D., in Garden.