Horticulture for the Cuildren of the Farm. 41 



" Children who are reared amid rural scenery, if rifjhtly trained, 

 "will become cultured and refined, even in abodes of poverty, 

 which must be ascribed solely to the spiritual atmosphere per- 

 vading their homes." There never was a prettier story than the 

 one so often told, of the gift of a blooming plant to the dwellers 

 in a filthy cabin, the room was small and disorderly, the window 

 so dirty that the sunlight could scarcely enter, but the presence of 

 that one flower suggested so many improvements, that soon the 

 cottage and its inmates were transformed by its influence. 



The work of the horticulturist is what the late learned 

 Bayard Taylor called *' the beautification of nature;" it is the 

 gathering together the best of all the treasures in nature's store- 

 house, the finest trees, the choicest fruits, the most excellent veg- 

 etables, the loveliest flowers, and then devoting time and labor 

 to their culture, joining hands with nature to give " an added 

 beauty to the earth," We sound the praise of the artist who 

 puts upon the canvas the picture of rural scenes, but he who 

 plants the trees and grow the flowers, and makes a living land- 

 scape, does a greater and a grander work, and to him we think 

 the greater praise is due. 



For the children of the farm much may be done to increase 

 their interest in horticultural work, but something more than 

 example is necessary, something more than to supply them with 

 the products of the garden and orchard, and tell them of best 

 varieties ; there should be also thorough, practical training in all 

 that pertains to the care and culture of the orchard. What would 

 be the result in our schools if there was no instruction given ex- 

 cept what is known among teachers as "the pouriug-in process? " 

 If in mathematics the solution of problems was not required, or 

 in music if the fingers were not educated, nor the voice trained in 

 song, teaching theories would be utterly useless. Parents should 

 not only teach their children how work should be done, but by 

 practice and by training children should learn to do skillful work 

 in whatever they undertake. Sometimes the children of excellent 

 parents go astray, which cannot be attributed to bad example, or 

 want of teaching, but solely to the fact that they were not trained 

 in any line of useful work. The success of farmers' sons is due 



