INGHAM COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 340 



growing refinement and good taste among our people, that love for the beauti- 

 ful is constantly increasing. We look back and recall the desolate surround- 

 ings of only a few years ago, the rough log cabin, the wild, untamed 

 natural shrubbery, the stretch of dreary woodland, and the still more unat- 

 tractive aspect of stumps and weeds which greeted the eye on every hand. 

 Out of all this barrenness have come the beautiful, tree-embowered avenues, 

 the green, sloping lawns, and the flowers which are everywhere to be seen. 

 Truly, the wilderness of Michigan has blossomed as the rose. And with the 

 growing opportunity for the cultivation of the beautiful in every department, 

 the desire to possess and enjoy llowers has become an almost inseparable 

 characteristic of every home loving woman and girl. 



The advantages of flower gardening as an occupation for women, are almost 

 too obvious to require mention. Nothing can be more conducive to good 

 health, and to the development of that sunshiny spirit which makes the glad- 

 ness of every home. The labor of the garden affords a degree of invigorating 

 exercise which is exactly adapted to counterbalance the confinement of house- 

 hold duties, and to furnish a much needed antidote to the excitement of 

 social pleasure. An hour or two every day spent in work among the flowers, 

 would save countless doctor's bills, and bring health to many a complaining 

 invalid. 



It would be strange if we did not value flowers, because they are capable of 

 adding so much to the beauty and attractiveness of home. The neatly kept 

 flower beds, resplendent with brilliant colors, the cottage embowered in 

 climbing vines, the delicate perfume of rose and lilac, the constantly chang- 

 ing picture of brightness, warmth, and color, are attractions to every one. 

 It should be the ambition of every woman to make her home the most lovely 

 spot on earth, and nothing will help to do this more than flowers. Boys and 

 girls alike will learn to appreciate and value them; and when the winter 

 comes and desolation reigns without, the good house-wife knows how to keep 

 it summer still within by gathering into nook and corner the relics of the 

 summer's glory. 



In attempting to beautify the external surroundings, the first requisite is a 

 well graded lawn, kept in a neat and flourishing condition. This, like the 

 background of the artist's picture, is the foundation for all future effort. It 

 should not be, as is so often the case, crowded with trees, neither should it 

 be too much cut up by flower-beds; but, although we need to avoid too great 

 disturbance of the lawn, there is nothing more beautiful than beds of flowers 

 or foliage plants cut out of its surface. It seems strange that so easy a 

 method of gardening should be so little in vogue among us. Many a broad 

 expanse of green which presents the finest opportunity for a brilliant display 

 of flowers or foliage, is left untouched, while a heterogeneous coUecuon is 

 huddled together in a shapeless mass near the house. All who have visited 

 the Agricultural College grounds, within the last two or three years, must 

 have admired the skillful arrangement of form and color which makes their 

 gardens so beantiful. It is not expensive to plant such beds. Many seed- 

 lings, such as verbenas, petunias, etc., may be utilized at a trifling expense. 

 Geraniums afford a beautiful variety for this kind of planting, but the most 

 useful plants for this purpose are coleus, alternantheras, centaureas, and 

 sedums. A special advantage of this is that they are never troubled by in- 

 sects of any kind. A few plants may be taken up in the autumn, before 

 chilled by frosts, and kept in some warm place until spring, and from these 

 you can readily propagate, if you do not wish to buy them of tbe florist 



