52 STATE HOKTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ment. This is because people have no ideals of beauty. They never have 

 been taught the principles upon which beauty rests. A person who is skilled 

 in this direction always finds employment. There is a demand for his labor at 

 a good remuneration. A single instance was given in illustration. A large 

 dry goods firm in Detroit pays the man who arranges its show windows the 

 highest salary paid in the whole establishment. People only get to be expert 

 in this direction by long study and contact with beautiful things and tasteful 

 combinations. In childhood is the time to develop appreciation of beauty 

 through constant study of types of beauty. 



Mr. Tracy called attention to the methods in which this kind of education 

 was made to pay in the arts and mechanics, and said Americans were in 

 advance of many other nations in the utilization of the beautiful. Children 

 have an intuitive love of the beautiful and it requires but little exertion to 

 train them in this direction. They delight iu ilowers, and we unconsciously 

 associate sunshine, children, and flowers together. Here he gave some delight- 

 ful illustrations from child life that had come under his observation showing 

 how intensely interested children may become in the study of beautiful things 

 and their combinations. He lastly called attention to the efforts of the society 

 in awakening people to the importance of making school grounds attractive 

 and getting the children interested in the development of the decorations in 

 and about the school-house. He spoke at length of the offer made by D. M. 

 Ferry & Co., in tliis direction, a full account of which will be found on a future 

 page of this report. 



Following Mr. Tracy's address Mrs. 11. C. Tate read the following paper 

 prepared by her husband, entitled 



EXTERNAL EMBELLISHMENT OF RURAL HOMES, AND ITS REFINING 



INFLUENCES. 



No home, no matter how poor and lowly, should be devoid of natural and 

 artistic ornaments. Nor can a mansion be so grand in its internal embellish- 

 ments as to make external ornamentation undesirable. The dwelling may be 

 never so small and unpretentious, — if the surroundings are tastefully arranged 

 and well taken care of, so that all interested will enjoy its beauty, then each 

 will exclaim with the poet, "There's no place like home." 



The great piles of stone, brick, lumber and mortar, when combined to form 

 the edifice, do not make the home, no more than the flesh, the blood, and the 

 bones when arranged as nature intended, make the man. In the latter case as 

 in the former the soul is wanting. We must add to the structure the embodi- 

 ments designed by our personal tastes, and these impart to it the spirit of life 

 which emanates from the soul, and through our attachments and natural affec- 

 tions it becomes our home both in fact and in name. 



Let us for a moment imagine that we are dealing with a structure yet with- 

 out life, and see if we can devise a little simple embellishment that will make 

 it attractive and home-like. If there are already any ornaments in the form of 

 trees, shrubs, or flowers, let us first decide if they are such as will harmonize 

 with the additional embellishments we are about to introduce ; if not then re- 

 move them at once. If the ground around the dwelling has a rough and 

 uneven surface let it be graded so as to make the descent from the front and 

 either side as near equal as possible, at the same time removing all half -dead 

 trees and unsightly objects that may be in the way. This done, the next thing 

 is to lay out the walks, which should be of sufficient width to allow of two per- 



