2052 The Cornell Reading Courses 



most persons strive. There is, of course, a pleasure in the possession of 

 a home of which one may be proud, but there is an obHgation on all men 

 to furnish attractive settings for their homes. To live long with pleasant 

 surroundings is to realize the value of their influence, and to become 

 assured that such inspiration is needed for work and for rest. The poor 

 of the cities, when they are marketing, will not hesitate to buy from the 

 flower stands some bright -colored geraniums to cheer their dingy rooms. 

 One might ask what use they can have for such things, or how they can 

 afford flowers. On the other hand, those who live in the country may have 

 scenes of beauty all about them, yet this does not necessarily supply a 

 want of homelike attractiveness in their immediate surroundings. The 

 owner of a little cottage garden, over the gateway of which was the inscrip- 

 tion, " Be its beauty its sole duty," had the right spirit. 



BEAUTY BY SIMPLE MEANS 



Farm homes may be made beautiful by very simple means. There 

 must first of all be neatness and orderliness; these, combined with a good 

 sward about the house and a sheltering growth of trees and shrubs, may be 

 all that is required. 



By way of example, there may frequently be seen in New York State, 

 the small, low, weather-stained cottage with one of its comers enveloped 

 and perhaps overtopped by a large lilac bush. Not even a porch has been 

 added to its unassuming front, and the single door, looking in the direction 

 of the bams, is adorned and shaded by an ample canopy of vines. The 

 immediate surroundings afford only a well-kept greensward, and, where 

 the feet have worn this away, broad, smooth stones are firmly held in 

 place by the encroaching turf. These limited home grounds are sur- 

 rounded by only a trim and orderly barnyard, an orchard, and a vegetable 

 garden, flower-bordered at the edge of the lawn, but everywhere is the 

 evidence of thrift and care. One would not add a single touch to the 

 completeness of such a scene; such homes are made by their owners alone, 

 and their simplicity becomes their charm. 



It is the interested hand of the owner that counts for more than a 

 wealth of materials in the development of home landscapes. The spirit 

 of the giver, the loving hand of the gardener, shape the growth day by 

 day and year by year. From his own stock of materials he devises 

 useful things that are beautiful, and gives freely the labor and the care 

 that are needed rather than dollars. Some one has said, " Show me the 

 garden a man has made, and I will tell you his character." 



Among the more prosperous rural homes there may be evidences of 

 injudicious expenditures, which mar rather than help. Plain old houses 

 have had fancy porches added to them; more modern ones, lacking the 



