January 2G, 190S 



HORTICULTURE 



1)7 



Anything was better, they thought, than such dreadful, 

 dreary drudgery. The five boys left as soon as t)iey 

 could get away — only one amounted to anything. The 

 rest were hoboes. These might haye been noble men, 

 leaders in society, enterprising citizens. Father and 

 mother are left all alone in their desolation. Every 

 child was as eager to get away a-s a convict to escape 

 prison. Nothing could call them back. The man has 

 his money, $75,000, but the children are gone — sold ! 

 sold ! by their own father. Does this pay ? 



A father once said to me, "I am having trouble with 

 my boys. I have lost control of them, and :?ometimes 

 they steal my money. J am afraid they are going to 

 the bad." He wanted mo to \ isit him. The man had 

 built a tine store in a near by town, he had a half sec- 

 tion of land, bid was living in a miserable house, and 

 his boys had to go to beo in a stuffy garret so low they 

 had to crawl into bed on all fours. He never encour- 

 aged them or paid them anything. They worked hard 

 and thought they should have .some remuneration if they 

 liad to steal it. 



Right here, let me say, the boy is a good deal as liis 

 father moulds him. A man should keep his promise to 

 his son as most sacred, and on no account violate it. He 

 should see that the son keeps his promise to him to the 

 letter. Some fathers have written contracts \vith their 

 boys, so that everything will be in black and white, so 

 that either can point out any lack on the other side. In 

 contrast with the den above described, I visited a 

 father who built a new house and saw that his boys had 

 one of tlie finest rooms. I was visiting him and noticed 

 that the two sons, sixteen and eighteen, were taking 

 hold of, the work as though they owned the place. They 

 seemed to show good judgment, and acted as if the 

 whole responsibility was on their shoulders. I con- 

 gratulated the father. He said, "I pay that oldest 

 boy eighteen dollars a month and the other twelve dol- 

 lars. I want them to have some self respect, and feel 

 that they are earning something and it teaches them 

 how to take care of their money and then we live for 

 our children, anyway. What incentive would we have 

 without them?" 



Too often, children have less attention than the cattle 

 and the horses. Oh ! the shame of it, when they should 

 be trained as kings and queens for a royal heritage. 

 Strange, the parent can not look over into the future 

 and see an ideal for that little toddler — a leader among 

 men, crowned with riches and honor, his own prolonged 

 life on a grander scale. Let the children associate with 

 the pure and the beautiful. Have that front yard an 

 Elysium. Have every attractive thing in it which can 

 be made to grow — a charming array of trees, shrubs, 

 and flowers. Have the girls associate with the best 

 dressed and best behaved company on earth. Children 

 are influenced by their surroundings. Interest the boy 

 in the finest flowers that bloom and he will be a gentle- 

 man and not a boor. 



A man who saw that he was going to loose three 

 calves, said to his three sons, "You may have, each of 

 you, one of these calves, if you will save them." They 

 did. How much they found out of the best way to 

 raise stock. Two years passed and he said at the table, 

 ■'I think I shall sell my three steers, tomorrow; they 

 will bring fifty dollars apiece." The boys noticed it. 

 He had to go away that afternoon ; when he came back, 

 there were not any steers. The boys said. "'We will 

 teach Dad to be honest." Children will get tremen- 

 dously in earnest if vou will let them study all out 

 doors. The structure of tlie plant, the unfolding of 



the flower — grafting, budding, planting — all are so 

 much more interesting than poring over dull books. 



Interest the boy in the choicest trees, shrubs, and 

 flowers. Let him write their names on labels and tie 

 them on till he knows them by heart. Let him study 

 their history, interest him in the creation of new varie- 

 ties, teach him the principles of hybridizing, call out 

 the Divinity within him. Let him understand that he, 

 too, can be a creator, that he can call out of the un- 

 known, things rare and beautiful which no other eyes 

 have yet seen, and you have lifted him to a higher plane 

 and given him a start worthy of his parentage, so plant 

 and raise refinement and beauty. 



■'Oh bosh on your beauty!" did you say? "There is 

 no money in it." Yes, but back in your soul, there is a 

 lurking love for it after all. You married the most 

 beautiful girl you could find ; you drive a fine team- — 

 I notice you did not buy a dilapitated buggy at an 

 auction but got a new carriage. Your colts and calves 

 are beautiful and you keep them so. Those round and 

 plump pigs with those fashionable kinks in their tails 

 just please you. Sneer as you will, you love the beau- 

 tiful ; now go and raise a lot of it in that front yard. 



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Euonymus alatus^ Maxim 



The autumnal coloring of our trees and shrubs con- 

 tributes in no small degree to their value for ornamental 

 planting, and, fortunately, the appreciation of this truth 

 is constantly growing. Unique in respect to its au- 

 tumnal beauty is this Asiatic congener of our own 

 Burning Bush. Although native to China and Japan, 

 Euonymus alatus is quite at home in. our gardens and 

 grounds where it becomes a compact, spreading, sym- 

 metrical shrub and attains a height of five to eight feet, 

 and a spread of equal proportions. It is distinguished 

 from the other members of its group by the pronounced 

 corky wings or plates on its branches, which give tbem 

 the appearance of being four-angled. The flowers ap- 

 pear in early June. They are small, yellowish and, 

 like those of many of this same group, unimportant. 

 The fruit which follows is small, borne on short stalks 

 singly or in groups of two or three, and opens its cap- 

 sule from the middle to the last of September. The 

 pod is purplish and the aril of the seed is scarlet. How- 

 ever, the fruit does not render the plant showy for not 

 only is it scattered but. liefore the leaves fall, it is par- 

 tially concealed. The foliage is neat, of good color 

 and in the autunan turns to a cheerful rose-pink which 

 is most delightful. In fact as regards beauty of autum- 

 nal splendor it ranks very high among ornamental 

 shrubs. As to requirements, it does not appear to be 

 fastidious though of course it needs good treatment for 

 the best results. The neatness of its liabit and the 

 goodness of its foliage make it desirable when a speci- 

 men shrub is sought, and render it indispensable to the 

 shrubberv. 



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