Floriculture; its Influence in the Home. 217 



"FLORICULTURE; ITS INFLUENCE IN THE HOME." 



By Mrs. Dr. Ayres, of Green Bay. 



What is the use of flowers? Probably there is no one who is ac- 

 customed to the cultivation of plants, watching them as they leave, 

 and bad, and bloom, with as deep an interest as if we not only 

 watched, but made them grow. Who has not been asked this ques- 

 tion, and that, too, in a variety of tones, with great diversity of ex- 

 pression. The answer is not always given with decision. It seems 

 to us so strange that every one does not know, that we hesitate, 

 say they are equally useful with other beautiful things, and urged 

 to particularize, at last, perhaps give no reason but that of, why we 

 like them. 



Now, I wish to assert most uncompromisingly, that flowers have 

 a value; and that not only to look pretty. We thoroughly enjoy a 

 beautiful sunset, but it fades away, and save for the momentary 

 raising of our thoughts in adoration of Him to whom "the clouds 

 are as dust under his feet," the sky might still wear its winter gray 

 and our lives would suffer no loss. 



Flowers are an essential part of nature's economy. From the 

 tiny flowerets joining the red snow of the Alps, feeding the still 

 tinier insect life which waited for their coming, to the brilliant, 

 gorgeous bloom of tropical plants, each has its own individual duty 

 to perform. Clothed in robes of delicacy, fragrance and beauty, 

 they do the work for which they were created, eagerly drinking up 

 from the soil the moisture received there, through the roots; they 

 throw it off again by the leaves, thus giving freshness and dewiness 

 to the air, gathering up the carbonic acid necessary to their own 

 life, and giving out the oxygen needed by ours, while the close 

 proximity of trees to our dwellings is carefully to be avoided, by 

 reason of their throwing more dampness into th^ atmosphere than 

 is needed. The more flowers around our houses the better, both 

 indoors and out, always provided that they are in a thoroughly 

 healthy state; and for this reason any one passing at least an hour a 

 day in the open air, in suitable weather, etc., among the house- 

 plants in the cold season, may have a reasonable hope of enjoying 

 better health than those who have no such resource. It has been 

 suggested as one means of securing pure air in city homes, that a 

 small conservatory should have pipes leading to each room, thus 



