324 STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



road thirty-four years ago, I have made for the last four years three pounds 

 to the tree each year. Some of the trees have been tapped a number of years, 

 but the flow of sap remains undiminished. 



I have often been told that the trees would be ruined by constant tapping, 

 but that is not our experience. One tree, a relict of the primeval forest, stands 

 by the roadside a living witness of the endurance of the maple. It bears the 

 scars of fifty years' continuous tapping. The mark of the ax and gouge, the 

 primitive mode of tapping, remains, but the tree thrives and is one of the best 

 to make sugar, often producing ten to twelve pounds in a season. It stands 

 near the house, and I tap it on the first warm day in winter. This season I 

 tapped it December 22, and we have had many a bowlfull of fresh syrup from 

 it during the mild weather of this winter. 



And this is the tree, blessed alike by nature and man, that we should plant 

 with unsparing hand, by our waysides, in waste places, and along the village 

 streets. And so will future generations bless the wisdom and forethought of 

 their fathers, in securing to them such a valuable heritage. 



THE BEAUTIFUL LESSONS OF FLOWERS TO CHILDREN. 

 BY MISS MATTIE BEADNER. 



"Flowers arc the alphabets of angels whereby they write on fields and forests 

 mysterious truths," but the language is so simple that even the infant under- 

 stands much of it, as, listening to the mother's voice, it comprehends in the 

 tones the love though the words uttered convey no idea of their meaning. 



Many qualities are inherent in the child, and one of the most prominent of 

 these, and most readily developed, is its love of the beautiful. Without the 

 proper means of development, all natural qualities may lie dormant, and 

 neither the child nor the full-grown man dreams of their existence. For 

 instance, how could the world have guessed of the executive abilities of those 

 men who became great generals, both north and south, had it not been for the 

 opportunities offered by the late war of the rebellion for their development? 



There are few of us but that accept that the great aim of mankind should 

 be happiness, and anything which will tend to this end should be eagerly 

 sought. 



" A thing of beauty is a joy forever," and this love of the beautiful should 

 be developed, consistently, to its highest degree. Nature herself is a wonder- 

 ful promoter of the unfolding of this quality. In every instance she endeav- 

 ors to cover all that is unseemly, but nowhere does she appeal so fully to the 

 childish eye as in her floral display. 



You who have flowers know with what instinctive magic the tiny feet are led 

 to the choicest beds. You have found the baby girl seated among your tender- 

 est plants, happier than any queen on her throne, and lovelier than all the 

 flowers around her. 



The child early learns to appreciate in them a higher beauty than the mere 

 physical. They serve as little expressions of love, and he comes to you with 

 his chubby hands crushed full of the flowers he has gathered in garden, field, 

 or by the roadside; without leaves or stems, perhaps, but his eyes beaming with 

 joy, and love in every motion. And if these little acts are encouraged, they 

 lead in time to beautiful expressions of gratitude and sympathy more eloquent 

 and tender than any words. 



