TRANSACTIONS OF ALTON HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 317 



its season, suggestive of good things, which the good .wife never spoils 

 in ( ooking. The orchard is full of promise ; the horses, cattle, sheep 

 and poultry are beautiful and beautifully cared for; even the lazy pigs, in 

 spite of their reputation, are busy getting fat for their owner's use. The 

 preserving, canning, pickling, drying, curing and salting (I had almost 

 said brewing) are admirable. 



" Sixteen barrels of cider 

 Ripening all in a row," 



Make the cellar foundation broad and deep for good cheer. This is the 

 man's home as he has wrought it out, and it looks well in his eyes. He 

 has impressed himself upon the landscape successfully. I tell this friend 

 of mine, "You must ])lant something ornamental." He says, "What 

 do you wish to see better looking than that half mile of osage hedge on 

 my north line, so thick that a rabbit can't get through? And if you 

 know a better apple in January than Pryor's Red I'll plant it, and be^ 

 glad, too. There's plenty of trees in the woods ; and as for flowers, I don't 

 want to see anything finer than the violets, anemones and spring beauties 

 that grow on the warm side of that fence every May. Dogwood, redbud, 

 locusts and apple blossoms are fine things enough for me, and we've 

 plenty of them. Later in the season a field of red clover pleases my 

 eye and deliglits my nose — nothing smells sweeter, except that same 

 clover after it is cut and cured, and in the barn without a drop of rain 

 on it ; and on the last point all the cows agree, and so will you when you 

 eat the butter." 



Ahem ! Yes ! Well ! I am afraid I shan't succeed with this man; 

 he is content ; his farm, his wife, his children, his all are, in his eyes, as 

 the world was when the Lord first made it — "very good." No show 

 or parade; nothing done for others' eyes; no care if others find fault. 

 Suggest some of the simplest ways of beautifying home ; tell of a lawn 

 well kept, shade trees, shrubbery, pleasant walks and shady seats, all giv- 

 ing an air of repose and quiet elegance, then listen to the answer : 

 " 'T would look as if nobody lived here, and what should I dowith the 

 sheds and piles of rails and pens of lumber it is so handy to have here ? 

 Where shall I put the cider-mill and the smoke-house, the coops for little 

 chickens and the barrels where the old hens lay and hatch, and mash 

 tubs, and the troughs and tubs for ducks and goslings? You'll want me 

 to move my old wagons, and racks, and barrows, and sleds, all out of 

 sight, as if I was ashamed of them. Beg your pardon, but if it's all the 

 some to you, I'd rather not." 



My friend has eyes only for the things next him. What you or 1 

 would put out of sight, and by skillful planning cover up, he prefers should 

 not be covered up; in fact, he 'feels rather proud that the evidence of 

 thrift and creature-comfort should be patent to all. You can't convince 

 this man; but the town peddler (bless his heart) will sell him a big bill of 

 stuff every year, to be yearly wasted and lost by the wife and children, who 

 do want they know not what, and "don't know how to get it." Next 

 year, among the cabbage and other garden truck, we will see a (ew mari- 



