214 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



was a horticulturist also. How vivid the story of the barren fig tree 

 wiiich for tliree years disaj)pointed the owner, "cut it down, why cum- 

 bereth it the ground," and the gardener pleads for another year, he will 

 dig about it and fertilize it, "Oh, let it have a year more." 



I am the vine, ye the branches. He pruueth it that it may bring 

 forth more fruit. 



There never was a more exquisite poem given in any language than 

 the unmetered song of triumph Christ left for his followers: 



"Cousider the lilies how they grow; they toil uot, they spin not: 

 Yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his j^lory wa? not arrayed like one of these. 

 If, then, God so clothe the grass which is to-day in the field and to-morrow is cast 

 into the oven, how much more yoa, oh, ye of little faith ? ' ' 



Grapes of thorns. The good tree bringeth forth good fruit. 



Everything the Great Teacher touched He glorified. The raven 

 and the sparrow, the mustard seed, the tree, the seed falling from the 

 hand of the sower, the grass, and the flower, are the mute sermons, the 

 beauty of whose unspoken eloquence will cheer tired mortals while 

 the ages go by. 



The softening, elevating, and harmonizing influence of flowers is 

 well known. They are messengers of peace, sympathy, and love. 

 The little child dragging out a desolate life in the dark alley of the 

 city, shut away from the fragrance of the greenness of a beautiful 

 world, is wonderfully encouraged by the presence of a single flower 

 which seems to lighten her burdens, and the life of the tired mother 

 is freshened as she looks at the little messenger which brings sweetness 

 and fragrance into her lowly dwelling. The flower missions in our 

 great cities are important factors in the way of encouragement. 



Some years ago Mr. Baker, then gardener of the Old Colony rail- 

 road, said, "I am carrying on one of the most important branches of 

 city missions." He wanted the railroad company to plant eveiy plat 

 of ground in and near the city with flowers. They said, "It is no use, 

 the children will destroy them." Said he, "I will see to that," and 

 having gotten permission, he went ahead. Every spring and often in 

 the summer he planted for a succession of flowers. Children by the 

 hundred gathered around him. "Now," said he, "these flowers are 

 ours — yours and mine, but they must not be picked; we want to see 

 them bloom, and we want the people to sea them as they go in and 

 out of the city." Then he explained each kind and when they would 



