198 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



For several years I have been taking special interest in watching 

 the poor orphan boys and girls at the Lutheran Orphan's Home in Fre- 

 mont. Each one is allotted a small space of ground each spring, only 

 a few square feet. Flower and vegetable seeds are furnished them, and 

 under the direction of the superintendent the rivalry begins as to who 

 can produce the best and the most from the seeds. You would need to 

 see their little gardens to believe how much they can do with a little 

 encouragement. It is my firm belief that some day in the future when 

 the cry of high priced living becomes more insistent, men and women 

 such as develop this kind of children, will point out the way by which 

 we may still be amply fed, housed, and clothed. 



The day is not far distant when elemental horticulture and garden- 

 ing will be taught in our public schools; we are far behind the European 

 countries in this respect. Our young people are sadly deficient in the 

 knowledge pertaining to plant growth, propagation, varieties and habits 

 of our commonest trees, plants, and vegetables. Only last summer I 

 was asked to make a little talk to about fifty teachers along this line. I 

 was surprised to find that a number of the young ladies did not know 

 even how to grow a geranium from a cutting. A young man with a 

 second grade certificate seemed to think that grapes were either budded 

 or grafted. I did not ask him how cottonwoods were propagated be- 

 cause I feared to add to the embarrassment, and yet these men and 

 women can solve an algebraic equation, translate Caesar and Cicero, 

 square a circle, and instruct our children in calisthenics. 



The tilling of the soil and the drawing therefrom the necessities of 

 life will be one of the chief subjects in our future college curriculum. 

 Some day all the situations as bookkeepers, clerks, and stenographers 

 will be filled; young doctors and lawyers will hardly find a place to nail 

 their "shingles." These professional folks will stand in line waiting 

 for a chance to get a foothold in life, but for all save a few the places 

 will be filled, and in the language of the Bible, "many will be called but 

 few chosen." Some day this will happen, but to all such the hand of 

 opportunity is beckoning them back to the soil to engage in agricultural 

 and horticultural pursuits. 



It is often said that distance lends enchantment, and it often happens 

 that we do not fully realize the possibilities that lie all about us. To 

 illustrate my point, I had two well-intentioned neighbors who had heard 

 of the great profits in fruit growing in Colorado and Texas. The allure- 

 ments of the promoters were irresistible. The neighbor who went to 

 Texas looked for an ideal climate, no winter, no frost, no snow, plenty 

 of rain, cool nights, no insects, good markets, agreeable neighbors, bounti- 

 ful crops, and good prices. I was sorry when he left. The girls took 

 the kodak along and were to send us pictures of the scenery there; but 

 the results were very disappointing all the way around. It didn't rain 

 much, the sage brush was about the only vegetation, the strawberry 

 plants all died, coyotes, jackrabbits, and Mexicans were their only neigh- 

 bors, the girls were lonesome, the mother discouraged.* They all came 



