116 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



the swiftly revolving wheel, and the quick eye and thought- 

 ful brain must direct every part of the great machinery that 

 is turning out its varied products for the use of men, or dis- 

 asters and destruction will result. The farmer or the gar- 

 dener turns from his work to other duties, and while adding 

 the embellishments of art to the interior of his dwelling, 

 kind old mother nature is carpeting the lawn with living 

 green and covering porches and verandahs with a mantle 

 of leaves, and touching every bud and blossom with tints 

 of crimson, or purple or gold. Day after day the great 

 mysterious process goes on, and each morning he wishes to 

 find bright flowers as fresh fruits waiting to greet him. 



Another, is the loss we sustain in neglecting to plant im- 

 mediately the orchard and the fruit garden; the loss of one 

 year's growth on our trees means one more year without 

 their fruit, and so of all that can be grown to make our 

 homes beautiful. 



We should remember, too, that it is a misfortune to children 

 to live in a rural home where fruits and flowers are not 

 grown in abundance and profusion; they have not the re- 

 fining influence that comes from the daily care and culture 

 of nature's growing things, nor that love for the beautiful 

 which is a safe-guard through life from evil. 



The horticulturist, more than any other man, is really de- 

 voting his time and his energies to home working; it is his 

 business to plant and to grow all " that is pleasant to the 

 sight and good for food," and he has more to aid him in his 

 wish than those engaged in other professions. The press is 

 giving more attention to horticulture and agriculture than 

 to any other industry; there is more discussion by the peo- 

 ple on these subjects than on any other business pursuit, 

 and more information is given from actual experience, to 

 the farmer and gardener, than to any other man. 



With all this aid it is passing strange that so many homes 

 should stand as they do, all bleak and bare and treeless • 

 without one shrub or flower, or even a bit of grass about the 

 dwelling, when skillful hands might so easily transform 

 them into places of beauty. 



It is said that the Swiss people have a law which compels 



