And now to close, I would like to ask you, who read these few remarks of mine, to endeavour to put more gentleness and courtesy in your dealings with other people than you have done heretofore; for in all of us there is always room for improvement, and there is not one of us surely but must admit that we often leave little courtesies undone and little gentle words unsaid. Courtesy is like the drop of oil that enables machinery to work noiselessly and smoothly, for it lessens the jars and friction of life and the consequent worry and fretfulness. Little things make or mar the peace of life, therefore exhibit courtesy which is “Love in little things,” and you will gain the gratitude and esteem of those around you, and carry away in your minds these lines of Lord Houghton, and never, if you can avoid it, lose an opportunity of putting them into practice— “An arm of aid to the weak, A friendly hand to the friendless, _Kind words, so short to speak, But whose echo is endless:_ The world is wide—these things are small, They may be nothing, but they are All.” THINGS IN SEASON, IN MARKET AND KITCHEN. BY LA MÉNAGÈRE. Glorious June! Can anyone complain of a lack of the least good thing? Rather we have _un embarras de richesse_; so much so, indeed, that we hardly know what to select for our typical _menu_. Look at the vegetable market, for instance. See the piles of snowy cauliflowers, the crisp cabbages and spinach, the quantities of salad stuffs, cucumbers, spring carrots and turnips, asparagus, artichokes, peas and French beans, while the very potatoes look attractive. Then see the fruit, the ever-welcome green gooseberries, strawberries, early raspberries, and ripe cherries galore. The fruiterers have golden apricots, nectarines, custard apples, and many other luscious things. The fishmongers are showing plovers’ eggs in their little nests of moss, the pinkest of prawns and crabs, scarlet lobsters in a garnish of parsley, magnificent salmon, salmon-trout, speckled trout, and beautiful fine soles, with mackerel that glisten like the whitebait. Game is, of course, of no account now; but young chickens are coming to the fore, and pigeons are excellent, so also are the plovers. Then look at the wealth of June blossom that is poured into the market. Can anything surpass the beauty of these roses? Lilies and hydrangeas, snowy narcissi, gorgeous tulips, iris, and peonies, and if you can find a sweeter or a more splendid flower than a blush peony of the Dutch variety, you will be clever indeed. Sweet mignonette, sweet peas, and still sweeter pinks, make the air quite heavy with their fragrance. Then we have quantities of beautiful grasses, mosses, ferns, and foliage plants here for all sorts of purposes, for June is the harvest month of the floral decorator. Dinners, balls, receptions, weddings, at homes—all make great demand on the markets this month.