Adorning Rural Homes. 195 



grace to boxes and brackets. Grow all you can of these lovely things. From 

 exjjerience, we assure you, the more of them you have the happier you will 

 be. 



But says one, "I could never ornament my home in this way; it would 

 require the skill of a landscape gardener to keep such grounds in order." 



Say not this, dear friend; do not you know, that not till it verges upon the 

 impossible do we reach the limit to what love and labor will do, with only a 

 little portion of this beautiful earth ? We plant the tiny seeds, Ave set the 

 trees, then turn to other labors; and lo! the great, grand mystery of plant 

 life rises up before us, and foliage, and bloom, and fruit are our reward; we 

 plant the seed and protect it from harm, and nature does the rest. No 

 worker in all this busy world has so many helpers as the horticulturist of to- 

 day. Nurserymen, seedsmen and florists are constantly investigating, ex- 

 perimenting, and communicating useful information. Books, papers and 

 catalogues will keej) the amateur posted in his work. 



But, says the working woman, I have so few flowers, and only the comnaon 

 kinds; I can not adorn my home with them. Say not so, my sister. Do 

 not you know that every tiny flower holds in its bosom the great secrets of 

 nature ? That the humble plant is as perfect as the oak ? " The violet is as 

 fragrant as the palm, and the roses of Sharon are as beautiful as Lebanon's 

 majestic cedars." 



If you can have but few of the growing beauties of nature, plant a vine by 

 your door-way, and it will cover the side of your dwelling with its drapery 

 of green; plant one tree and it will spread out its leafy banners above your 

 head, and ever make you grateful for its shelter and shade ; plant one packet 

 of seeds, if you can no more, and care for them well, and your flowers will 

 expand in colors more royal than the purple of Tyre, and give you fragrance 

 more sweet than the spices of Arabia 



I have not the time, says another. Say not this, my friend. Every one of 

 us has all the time which God has given to mortal man, and our mental and 

 moral status is determined by what we do with it. Thousands of rural 

 homes tell us most unmistakably what their owners have not done with their 

 time, in the years that are past. 



If we spend the passing hours in idleness or useless work, or in fictitious 

 reading, and leave our gardens and dooryards uncultivated and uncared for, 

 we have tftken our choice in the use of our time, and must accept the result. 

 If we neglect to adorn our homes with natures' jewels and thus leave the 

 love of the beautiful undeveloped in our children, the loss to them and to 

 the world is irreparable. Our homes are the nurseries of our children ; their 

 education begins in the home ; the foundation of character is laid there, and 

 when our children go from us the world receives the product of our homes. 

 We attach great importance to the productions of our country; we have a 

 national pride in her manufactures, her mechanics, her works of art. Let us 

 remember that the best production of any country is its people. 



But I am growing old, says another; it is now too late. No, 'tis never too 



