174 Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



history of our country that our homes could be adorned and 



beautified at so small a cost as the present time, when men and 



women are vying with each other, giving their time and money to 



forward the progress of arts, and by so doing refining the tastes, 



thereby making the world better by their having lived in it. Too 



much cannot be said of Benjaman Pitman, Maria Longworth, 



Nichols and Louisa McLaughlin, who through their efforts have 



opened the way for men and women who have assisted in making 



the Cincinnati school of decorative pottery a national institution. 



Since it has been discovered that the ingredients for this art are 



found in many parts of our country, the outlook for it to come 



within the reach of the less favored, is flattering. Wyoming, 



Ohio, Alabama and Illinois are said to furnish some of the different 



"... ' 



tinted clay suited for this work, which has been developed fully 



for the coarse wares so far. The time is not far distant when we 



.will be enthusiastic over the moulding of our jugs. Jars and vases, 



our china closets filled with the work of our own hands, burned in 



our own kilns. When America can produce that quality of 



lithomarge, then she will call home her own Havalin to teach her. 



sons and daughters the art of making the most beautiful china 



the world has ever known, we will surely be a fortunate people. 



Painting has been elbowing its way to the front. Our young 

 ladies and many of those who are jDast their youth are developing 

 wonderful genius and enthusiasm over their efforts in this branch, 

 as ever the old masters did over their grandest work. The result of 

 this art can be seen decorating the walls of many of our homes, and 

 valued more than if the brush of Eubin's had executed the work, 

 because it is the developed genius of our children and our neighbors 

 children. Almost every village boasts of its painting class and ex- 

 perience has taught us the work accomplished, will bear close and 

 severe criticism. 



We expect most of our girls to become housekeepers and 

 homemakers ; should the husband be able to furnish the four 

 walls of the home, well and good, if not, she, witli a knowledge of 

 what is called the finer arts could furnish both home and decoration. 

 The question comes to us again, does it pay? Is it not our duty as 

 a progressive people to encourage these arts, not only for their 

 beauty and attractiveness, but for their commercial value, for a 

 tax paying class of citizens without representation. Then with 

 the advantages we have, well improved, and the prosi^ect of a 

 brighter future, our homes will grow more and more in beauty 

 as the years go by. We can sit under our vine and fig tree feeling 



