168 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



grace and beauty, which lifts her occupation into the region of 

 art. 



Moreover, the very laws and conditions of vegetable life are 

 full of instructive analogy to human life. The mother will gather 

 many a lesson of wisdom in rearing these mute but sensitive 

 creatures, which will guide her in bringing up her more precious 

 charges. I remember the comfort which a young mother, 

 over-anxious about a delicate baby, received from a horticultu- 

 rist who told her that he had often observed his plants which 

 seemed quite feeble the first year, gain health and vigor in the 

 second year by judicious care. The sturdy, healthy boy now 

 rewards his mother's faith in nature's teachings. So the garden 

 is full of the most suggestive illustration of moral and religious 

 truth. The most spiritual of teachers told us to " observe the 

 lilies how they grow " ; and drew precious lessons from them. 

 Often when the mother seeks diligently for words sacred enough 

 in which to impart the holy mysteries of religion and life, she 

 will find, as Wilkinson has wisely said, that the processes of 

 nature in the growth and development of plants will supply her 

 with the pure and beautiful symbolism she needs in which to 

 clothe her thought. 



But the full value of Horticulture for woman, either as im- 

 proving her health, increasing her industrial resources or 

 developing her mental powers, cannot be gained by desultory 

 attention to this work regarded only as a elegant amusement, 

 or as an adjunct to ordinary pursuits. 



That the stream of culture may flow beneficently through all 

 the community, we must raise the fountain-head high ; at some 

 points women must devote themselves to the science of horti- 

 culture, or to the practice of it as a noble profession, giving it 

 their best energies, and reaping its richest rewards. 



Michael Angelo well said that the light of the market-place 

 was the true test of the value of the statue. It is so with all 

 work. The dilettante and the amateur are never sure that their 

 faults are not partially glossed over by the courtesy of society ; 

 but the price current is no respecter of persons, and the best 

 strawberries will command the highest price, whether raised by 

 man or woman. It is this test of fair and open competition 

 alone, which will give to woman's work thoroughness, finish 

 and completeness. 



