SUMMER MEETING AT BUTLER. ^ 73 



The primrose and violet and the blood red peonies, the many col- 

 ored hollyhocks and the huge flauntinf^ yellow sunflower, all have 

 pleasant associations because of their hallowed connection with my 

 grandmother's garden. 



Who ever had such majestic currant bushes that towered above 

 our heads, laden with their endless supply of green and red fruit, sug- 

 gestive of pies for good little girls and boys. 



Who ever saw such wonderful beets and parsnips and carrots, and 

 such plethoric cabbage, that had never in all their lives associated 

 with white butterflies and disgusting green v/orms. 



Because the roses only bloomed in June, was that any reason why 

 they should not be called perpetual ? When they had once bloomed in 

 grandmother's garden they had bloomed for us forever. The red, the 

 white and the yellow alike oast their sweet fragrance over our memo- 

 ries even down into the coldest wintry days. 



Another source of happiness that my grandmother obtained from 

 her garden was the good degree of health she enjoyed, by the use of 

 the spade and hoe, thus giving a good appetite and long life to enjoy 

 the results of her own labor. 



Long may our memories keep green that we may be permitted to 

 recall grandmother's pleasant home, the dearest spot on earth, to our 

 -childish recollections. 



But modern horticulture, not content with supplying the wants of 

 the family, reaches out to convert gardens into great fields of vege- 

 tables, fruits and floweis. « 

 Greenhouses have been invented and constructed whereby the 

 most tender and beautiful plants, not only of our own, but distant 

 climes, may be kept blooming in midwinter. 



By budding and grafting, the horticulturist has prolonged the sea- 

 son of weeks into months, of apples, pears, peaches and many other 

 fruits. 



In our youthful days we were content with gathering a few quarts 

 of wild strawberries. Now the eager desire to convert everything into 

 gold has made the strawberry so great an article of commerce that not 

 only cars but trains of cars are daily laden lor distant shipment. The 

 remarkable progress and improvement in varieties of fruits and the 

 improved modes of culture are evidence of the progressive spirit of the 

 age. 



Even though many new varieties of fruit have been the result of 

 what we may term accident, yet he who fairly tests their merits and 

 publishes them to the world, is no less a benefactor than he who manu- 

 factures them by the process of hybridization. While we may not 



