LIFE IN THE COUNTET. 



of intelligent and well-directed labor. The trees in the orchard bent under the weight 

 of luscious fruit. The well-kept lawp, and beautiful shrubs, and fragrant flowers, 

 marked this place as the abode of taste and refinement. Though I did not like the 

 idea of copying, j-et I thought I would keep this place in my eye, as a model. I was 

 therefore highly delighted, soon after my location at my new home, with a call from 

 my neighbor, John Grove. lie very kindly informed me that he had called over to 

 proffer me any assistance in his power, as he had observed that my present vocation 

 was a new one, and one for which at present I seemed hardly fitted. After thanking 

 him for his kindness, I related some of my schemes, as well as my doubts and difficul- 

 ties. He very frankly gave me the benefit of his experience and counsel ; and his aid 

 to me was invaluable. AVhile applauding my determination to take up my home in 

 the country, he warned me of the causes which made so many city gentlemen disgusted 

 with country life after a season's trial, and pointed out with the clearness of a philoso- 

 pher the real pleasures of a country life. I became delighted with his intelligent con- 

 versation, and listened attentively as he proceeded : " Those who remove to the country 

 for its enjoyments, generally anticipate too much. They imagine the country skj- to be 

 ever bright, and all seasons alike pleasant. They seem to think luscious fruits anxiously 

 wait to be plucked at all seasons of the year. They fondly hope to escape ' all the ills that 

 flesh is heir to.' But this dream is never realized. There are clouds and storms, as well 

 as sunshine, in the countiy. No spot, however salubrious or lovely, is exempt from 

 sorrow, sickness, and death. The country aSbrds its peculiar pleasures, and solid advan- 

 tages ; but to be fitted for their enjoyment, we must have some rational ideas of their 

 nature. "We must learn to love and appreciate the roomy, well-ventilated house, the 

 free air uncontaminated by the smoke of chimneys, the cheerful aspect of vegetation ; 

 the songs of birds, and the beauty of the flowers, afford pleasures of no mean character 

 to the man of thought and taste." lie claimed that gardening was a great educator of 

 children. "Parents," he said, "should teach their children to love and practice gardening. 

 It will learn them system and order, patience and hope ; it will give strength to the 

 body and the mind ; it will improve the head and the heart. It will teach them self- 

 reliance — that success is the reward of industry and perseverance, while failure is the 

 result of negligence. It will teach them to 



'Look from Nature up to Nature's God.' 



Few realize the injury they do, and actually suffer, by depriving themselves and their 

 children of the pleasures afforded by the i-ultivation of flowers — these children of the 

 field. A farmer and his wife, in easy circumstances, not a thousand miles from this, 

 had an only son, who, much to the sorrow of his parents, had imbibed a desire ' to go 

 to sea.' He had read of the raging billows — of strange people in strange lands — of 

 Orange groves — of lands where the Pine-apple grows — of exciting scenes in capturing 

 the whale — and his whole heart seemed set on seeing foreign lands and living on the 

 ocean wave. In vain his parents endeavored to interest him in the operations of the 

 farm. He worked, to be sure, but his heart was not in the work. It was a drudgery, 

 and he longed for the time when he could bid farewell to parents and home, and see 

 the world for himself At that time a Horticultural Society was established in the 

 y, and at the first exhibition fruits and flowers of the finest kinds were display 



