HOETICULTUKK FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE FaRM. 43 



would handle them so lovingly, turning their bright heads 

 with her delicate fingers, exclaiming, "See, mamma, they look as 

 though they knew something." After these, a hedge of sweet peas 

 will delight all the household; Give them a place somewhere in 

 the garden or door yard ; plant them early, and grow them ia 

 profusion ; there cannot be too many. Let the little ones gather 

 them daily, give them to their little friends, send them to the 

 sick and the aged, and to the flower mission, take them to the 

 school room and to the church, and every day let there be a 

 bouquet of Fanny's sweet peas upon the tea table. The use of 

 floral decorations always increases the love for flowers. A bright 

 pansy laid upon a napkin, or a wreath of morning glories for the 

 breakfast table, is a charming thing. Children take great delight 

 in making bouquets, and these old-time flowers will give them so 

 much pleasure that many other varieties will be added to the 

 little garden, and its influence will be felt wherever its flowers 

 are seen. 



But the most lasting of all the pleasures of horticulture is the 

 planting of trees; they grov7 under our care till they tower above 

 our heads, and give shelter and shade, and beauty, and high above 

 all living things they stand in majestic splendor. Plant them 

 everywhere, in city and country, in towri and village, on the broad 

 prairies, in orchard and garden, in school yards and the road side, 

 let the children plant them in spring time, plant them in autumn. 

 Let them mark the anniversary day or the departure of some 

 loved one, and in after years they will become living monuments 

 of good deeds done. We can never forget the trees we loved in 

 childhood. As we recount the pleasures of by-gone years, we see 

 again the old " acorn tree " by the school house, the beach trees 

 on the hill, the butternuts and the graceful elms that dipped their 

 branches in the passing stream. What precious memories they 

 bring of the teaching and training of early years and of the dear 

 ones who loved and cared for us then. It is these early attach- 

 ments, and their potent influence, which strengthens in character 

 a love for the good and the beautiful. To-day we come from 

 north and south and east, to the western limit of our own Wis- 

 consin, to this beautiful city, clothed with the verdure of summer, 



