408 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



'Twas strange how many straggling weeds I found, 

 All growing strong and covering the ground ; 

 And as I pulled the weeds and placr-d with care 

 The plants I loved, and left them smiling there, 

 These lines came in my mind as quick as thought ; 

 I give them here, and you may read or not ; 

 I like them, for to rue they're strictly true, 

 And bid me take of life a fairer view ; 

 They teach me that we might have brighter hours, 

 And see life's weeds supplanted by the flowers. 



THE LINES. 



Where weeds will grow the flowers can bloom, 

 And clustering fruitage shed perfume; 

 Where briars and thorns oppress the ground, 

 The Kose and Lily might be found. 



Then pluck the weeds, the briar and thorn, 

 And with the Kose life's path adorn ; 

 Let its sweet odor fill the air, 

 To banish grief and lighten care. 



Where sadness reigns, smiles should appear, 

 And hope's warm sunshine dry the tear; 

 Where sorrow fills the heart with woe, 

 True sympathetic love should flow. 



Then dry earth's tears; quell grief and pain 

 With love which answers back again, 

 Till the cold world of want and care 

 Blooms as a garden everywhere. 



— M. D. M. in FicA's Magazine for May. 



WOMEN HORTICULTURISTS. 



That has a pleasant sound to those who are familiar with the pos- 

 sibilities in this direction, but the damper which shuts it out from the 

 list of near probabilities is the too familiar one of American false and 

 foolish pride. The devotee of society shudders as she thinks of toil in 

 the fields. She calls to mind the tales she has read of the women 

 laborers in the cotton fields of our own south ; visions of women work- 

 ers in the vineyards on the Rhine flash before her mental vision, and 

 she recoils in disgust. Goodness knows, we would not have our women 

 labor as do those we speak of, but why not let her use her brains in 

 this direction, supplying the physical deficiency from the mental reser- 

 voir ? The titled ladies of the old world are not so averse to trade a» 



