ANNUAL FLOWERS. 



I. GENERAL REMARKS. {L. H. Bailey.) 



^ -.-yiiy-:^ ^ FFORTS have been made in the past few 

 ■M^^^^^^ . ^ years, under the auspices of the Agricul- 

 ^iff^^M^' 08- tural Extension work, to improve the sur- 

 ^^^^?^^^;?^S^ roundings of rural homes. To this end 

 j^^^^K^^:: we have issued reports on flowers and the 



^^^^^^-^'i -■■■■■:'■;% planting of shrubbery ; and the present 

 l^^^^^ ^^^^:-"--. bulletin is another effort in the same 



direction. 

 During the past few years, the best thought of man}' able men 

 and women has been given to the condition of the farmer and 

 the status of agriculture. Many movements looking to the bet- 

 terment of rural affairs are now in progress. It is probable that 

 every one of them is productive of permanently good results ; 

 and the combined eifects must be most beneficent. I believe, 

 however, that the pecuniary side of the agricultural question has 

 been too greath^ emphasized in these schemes. It is, of course, 

 incontrovertible that the greatest single problem is that of the 

 earning power of the farm ; but it is not nine-tenths of the 

 question, as one might conclude from the current agricultural 

 discussions. 



Great numbers of farmers earn enough as it is, but they do not 

 have the knack of doing things with the greatest economy of 

 time and effort, and farm homes are not often designed to afford the 

 greatest pleasure and comfort of living. Ever}' person should 

 know the great fact that the most successful life is the happiest 

 one, and that the happiest one is that in which the common and 

 little things awaken the greatest number of mental impressions. 

 Successful and enjoyable farming, therefore, depends largely 

 upon one's attitude of mind towards the things with which he 

 deals and lives. If one derives pleasure from a daisy, a hill of 



