One of the first things which strikes a stranger entering St. Petersburgh, is the evident passion which all the inhabitants, rich and poor, old and young, have for flowers.

The eye admires, with surprise and delight, the halls and rooms of all classes, which, for eight or nine months in the year, are more like conservatories than the interior of common dwelling-houses; being gay with plants of every clime, whilst out of doors the country is desolated by the severity of the cold. In-doors we find Palms and Figs, Musas, Dracaenas. Ms rantas, the large leaved Arums, Camellias, Rh dodendrons and Azaleas; also some beautiful Leguininosm, Mimosas, Cytisus in pots, Myrtles of all sorts, Olea fragraus, the large Clethra, different sorts of Laurel; and lastly, but most conspicuous, are the hundrod-leaved and fourseason Roses, Hyacinths, and other flowering plants.

The working classes, who cannot command a wide range of temperature, prefer such plants as Crinuin, Maranta, Hoy a carnosa, Asclepias curassavica, and Lantana; Oranges, Jasmines, Plumbago capensis, Ixora, Laurel, Cytihus and Olea fragrans.

The poor, who are compelled to live continually in the town, grow Pelargoniums, Roses, Verbenas, Fuchsias, Wallflowers; and, in spring, Lilies of the Valley.