SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS. 373 



the disappointment and chagrin when hixuriant plants that bloomed 

 so finely in the garden, languished and died in the confined atmos- 

 phere of the hou.se; of the rising betimes upon blustering winter 

 mornings to find that the west wind had searched out our pets; to 

 see stately callas, fragrant heliotropes — a whole window full of once 

 thriving plants standing mute, wilted accusations of carelessness and 

 neglect. How many husbamls and brothers associate them Avith 

 much digging and heavy lifting, pilgrimages to the woods for 

 sand and leaf-mold, jiutting up of shelves, and being roused up on 

 cold nights to rej)lenish base-burner or furnace; of tearful faces at 

 breakfast tables when this nocturnal ceremony had been omitted 

 with dire results? Still few who have experienced the delights of 

 watching, day Ijy day, the growth of healthy plants, the devolopment 

 of buds and the oi)ening of flowers, beautiful at any time, but 

 doubly so with background of wintry landscape; who have gathered 

 fr(^m their windows tiny boquets to grace a festive occasion, sent a 

 blooming plant to cheer the slow, weary hours of suffering in a sick 

 room; or — saddest, tenderest mission of all — culled a few snowy 

 blossoms to place about some one's " sacred clay," will be content to 

 pass a winter without some of these " stars of Mother Earth " to 

 shine within their dwellings. 



What a charm a few green, flourishing plants lend to a family sit- 

 ting-room during the long months when mother and children must 

 spend most of the time within four walls. The little ones soon learn to 

 love mamma's plants, to announce the appearance of buds and hail the 

 blooming with boisterous delight. Soon, too, they learn to help care 

 for them; fatally, sometimes, it is true, but always gladly. Home 

 will be dearer to them as they grow to man and womanhood, because 

 it was graced with the fragrance and beauty of. flowers. Even 

 " pater-familias," though he may not know a hyacinth from a ger- 

 anium, and grumbles a little about the bush that obscures the light 

 when he reads the morning paper, feels their bright influence, and is 

 ready to admit — 



" It was a liappy thought to bring 



To the dark season's frost and rhyme, 

 Tliis tinted memory of spring — 

 This dream of summer time." 



The successful culture of home plants is attended by many 

 difficulties, but they are not insurmountable. I know of windows 

 where the beauty and profusion of flowers is the wonder and admira- 

 tion of every person — where geraniums, l)ogonias, fuschias, prim- 

 roses, iieliotropes, bonvardiers, each seem striving to outdo the oth- 

 ers. Where lies the secret of success? is often asked. One attrib- 

 utes it to a peculiar knack — ''everything grows that she touches;" 

 another says "she slips and pots her {)lants in the new of the moon." 

 It is neither magic nor moonshine, only judgment, experience and 

 faithful care. 



