316 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plant one hundred and sixty acres in corn, need not hesitate much as to 

 when to begin or what to do first, or stop to consider how it will all look 

 by and by. But we must think, first, of what we wish to accomplish, and 

 next, what means are in our possession. Each particular case must, 

 in a measure, furnish a particular answer ; but, in general terms, I may 

 say that, by "ornamental planting," we mean to express the thought so 

 clearly as to strike the beholder that "man lives not by bread alone." 

 Our work brings no dollars to the pocket, but may bring content to the 

 heart. I believe the above, in a general way, covers the case, and if we 

 would all work a year or two, with only this end in view, we would im- 

 prove the looks of our homes very much. But, in the meantime, we 

 might go hungry (this last remark doesn't belong to my subject) now for 

 means in our hands with which to work out all the beauties of nature and 

 place them where we can enjoy them. Trees and grass are the great 

 agencies with which to work wonders. "Common," do you say they 

 are? So much the better for you and me. 



In planting for ornamental purposes, do not try for immediate effects. 

 Keep m mind what the effect will be when years have passed. You can 

 enjoy more in watching a thing grow and develop under your hand than 

 in buying ready-made, or in working out your full plan all at once. This 

 is the natural way, and it is only "shoddy" jjcople who try to ape the 

 natural by clumsy artifice. God makes us wait for most of our good 

 things, real or fancied, and our own judgment approves His Avisdom. 

 None of us would wish our children to be born to us old men, or 

 even old maids. Oh, it is splendid, from year to year, to watch a tree 

 grow and spread out its limbs, and think that so many years since you 

 pruned it with your thumb nail when it didn't reach to your chin, and 

 now it is as high as the eaves, and will be higher and higher, growing on, 

 on, years after we are gone. In this art of ours, which "doth strive to 

 mend nature," let us try and possess some of nature's patience. 



We may do as my friend Mr. Hollister says he does, raise a crop of 

 potatoes on the same ground as will next year bring strawberries ; so we 

 may grow some pretty little things while our grander things, of slower 

 growth, are coming on. , 



The great difficulty about our work is this : all of us, who try at all, try 

 our best at ornamentation near our dwellings. I have often thought what 

 beautiful places could easily be if one could only get rid of the houses and 

 the barns, and the sleds and the fences. We try hardest for the beautiful 

 under the most untoward circumstances. I can, to-day, make my pas- 

 tures far more ornamental than any house lot, and with less trouble. Our 

 homes, etc., as a rule, are ugly, and must be so in the nature of things. 

 "Homely " we call them, and like the name ; but you know the word is 

 almost synonymous with ugly, and the facts are quite so. ^Esthetic 

 tastes, physical comfort and home joys are not good friends (make a note 

 of this last remark — it's truer than most things I have written). I'll 

 illustrate this: I visit a friend sometimes, whose home appointments are 

 perfect, so far as neatness, order, economy of time and labor, and care 

 for one's family and friends can make them. The kitchen garden is, in 



