218 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Springing in vallej'S green and low, 



And on the mountain liigii, 

 And in the silent wilderness 



Where no man passes bj'. 



"Our outward life requires tlieni not; 



Then wherefore had tiiey birth? 

 To minister deliglit to man, 



To beautify the earth; 

 To comfort man, to whisper hopes 



Whene'er his faltli is dim ; 

 For whoso' careth for the flowers 



AVill care much more for Him." 



And if this beneficent attribute of their mission be a fact, then we can see 

 why they shall have a place in our homes, our schools and the church of Him 

 **who is the chief among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely." 



If the emotion of beauty jjives joy and carries gladness in its train, then 

 every home and every thought in that home should be redolent with these 

 bright children of taste and purity. 



Methinks the rising angry clouds that sometimes rise in the domestic sky 

 would be allayed in tlie presence of flowers; that these smiles of God would 

 draw the lightning back from the cloud of passion and restore sunshine and 



peace. 



And when the deep shadows of intemperance blight the hopes of the wife and 

 the mother, can she not turn to the flowers as on the face of God and draw 

 comfort from the thouglit tliat He wlio smiles upon the rose and the calla 

 will grant her the peace that will still the wild throb of her soul? 



"Make your home beautiful — bring to it flowers. 



Plant them around you to bud and to bloom; 

 Let them give life to j'our loneliest hours — 



Let them bring life to enliven your gloom. 

 Make youv own world — one that never has sorrowed — 



Of music and sunsiiine and gold summer air; 

 A home-world whose forehead care never has furrowed, 



And whose cheek of blight beauty will ever be fair. 



" Make your home beautiful— weave round its portal, 



Wreaths of the ja^Juiine and delicate sprays 

 Of red-fruited woodbine, with gay immortelle, 



Til at blesses and brightens wherever it strays. 

 Gather the blossom too — one little flower, 



Vaiied verbena, or sweet mignonette. 

 Still may bring bloom to your desolate bower. 



Still may be something to love and to pet. 



**Mnke your home beaut i fid. —gather the roses 



That lioard up the sunshine with exquisite art: 

 Perchance they may pour as j'our dread darkness closes 



That soft summer sunshine down into your lieart 

 If you can do so, oh, make it an Kden 



Of beauty and gladness: remcmbei' 'tis wise; 

 'Twill teach you to long for that home you are needing, 



That heaven of beauty beyond tlie blue sky." 



And surely in the school where the young are being trained for the duties of 

 life, what can more easily and certainly soften tlie rough-made nature of the 

 boy, and refitie and elevate the budding charms of his gentle sister! I would 

 have the school grounds laid out wiili taste by the landscape gardener; adorned 

 ■with evergreens and flowers of every form and beauty. On many a boy and 



