286 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



sure, and tliev had ofood food and clothing; although Mr. Glum's 

 face at the head of the table was enough to turn the cream pitcher 

 into a vinegar cruet. He wouldn't think of taking the children on 

 his knee and " trotting them to market," even when they were babies. 

 Not he! If they consulted him, he called them "fools," and if they 

 didn't, and got into trouble, he cursed them and himself, for having 

 such wretches to look after. The time spent in amusing the little 

 ones is not wasted. Put aside the needle, mother; lay down the book 

 or paper, father, and have a hearty romp with the children. It is 

 good for them; it is good for you. Do not imagine that dignity 

 alone commands respect! The happiest homes in the world are those 

 where the parents interest themselves in the pursuits of their chil- 

 dren. Share in their amusements, and treat them, in every way, as 

 if they were intelligent human beings. Let home decry innocent 

 amusements; they are the means of much real good to the human 

 family. Social merry-makings not intrinsically sinful are good and 

 healthful. Let the laugh and innocent joke go round, for blessings 

 follow in their wake. Many have natural cravings for excitement, 

 which, if not satisfied in this manner, will lead their subjects to 

 scenes of sensuality, from which only wretchedness can follow. The 

 producers of innocent amusements and recreations for the people are, 

 indeed, then, benefactors to their fellow men. 



Another important item in home surroundings is the supplying 

 it with good literature — not " Police Gazettes," " Dime Novels," 

 " Saturday Nights," and '" New York Ledgers " — to dress vice in 

 the garb of romance, but pure and instructive, as well as attractive 

 literature. A person grown up amid such affiliations, even if he shall 

 afterward be thrown among vicious surroundings, will rarely forget 

 their hallowed influences, and will be sure to ever recur to them with 

 sensations of pleasure. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, 

 and no matter how inviting the home and surroundings and good the 

 influence of parents, of brothers and of sisters, a black sheep will 

 appear in many flocks. We have had a vivid illustration of the in- 

 fluence of surroundings in the recent strike where school children 

 clamored for "more recess and less vocal music." It was amusing, 

 as well as ludicrous; showing, nevertheless, how Young America is 

 ever ready to follow the example set before them; and I rather 

 agreed with the writer of the article who recommended the use of 

 the slipper, said slipper being used in the time of our grandparents 

 with beneficial results, and not always on the feet! 



Cleanliness is another important feature in home surroundings. 

 " Cleanliness is next to Godliness," is an old saying of such authority 

 and repute among us that many people, in repeating it, imagine 

 themselves to be employing at least one of the sayings of the wisest 

 of Kings. But, though no such expression is recorded among the 

 sayings of Solomon, nor at all in the pages of holy writ, the truth of 

 the exceeding importance of cleanliness is preached to us by every 



