56 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



of oui- nature that finds its enjoyment in planting and in cultivating trees 

 and flowers so as to adorn our home surroundings, which with a reflex 

 influence give birth to and provide nourishment for some of the sweetest 

 sentiments nature is capable of. 



There is so much in the gradual evolution of country life. All 

 we need is the trained eye, the discerning sipirit and appreciative thought 

 to provide the family with the forces that go for development of a 

 high order and you will then be forced to admit the power of things 

 present to influence things that are to come. 



A little incident happened a day of two ago at my home that was 

 fraught with much interest and deep meaning. To get the force of 

 what I wish to say I must go back a few years. Nearly thirty years ago 

 where I live, when first coming there it was wild prairie land. No trees, 

 to attract the birds to nest with us, v;e planted trees, and, 

 oh! the intense pleasure it gave us as one variety after another of 

 birds came to be our companions and neighbors for the summer. Our 

 boys as they became big enough were deeply interested in bird life. As 

 summer succeeding summer brought us new visitors, their delight was 

 great and when the golden oriole came it was an event in the history of 

 our home not to be forgotten. Well, the years have come and gone, and 

 many are the lessons trees, flowers and birds have taught us. 



A few days ago my youngest boy found a crippled young oriole in 

 one of he groves; he brought it to the house and placed it in a box by 

 the window. The loving, anxious mother bird in some way or another 

 found out where it was. She came close to the house and window, losing 

 her usual timidity in her anxiety for the baby bird. So distressed was 

 sihe that the boys took it out and left it on the lawn; fondly she came 

 to it and in her caressing way enticed it amongst the taller grasses to 

 give it protection. The lesson, ah well! loss of fear for self in the 

 thought of another. The spirit of such an incident furnished a sermon 

 that we would have been deprived of if environment had not provided 

 the proper setting. 



There is something real interesting in watching the development of 

 thought and ideals in family life. These in great measure are illustra- 

 tive of the ebb and flow of local community and national life. The 

 awakening of the mental faculties, the gradual spinning of the garments 

 that enwrap our sentimental personality, the perceptive and appreciative 

 qualities that are so dependent for nutrition upon what immediately sur- 

 rounds them, impels one to the conclusion that to get a robust and 

 healthy character the proper food must be furnished to secure such a 

 result. 



This leads me to refer to something which I know all of you gentle- 

 men are much interested in. It is of vital importance to us, as people, 

 that we do all we can to further those things whose object is to develop 

 in the youth of our state and nation an ability to rightly understand, not 

 only the workings of the forces of nature, but of putting themselves in 



