FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 571 



a farmer, perhaps I would not dare make so sweeping a statement, but, 

 dear farmer friends, I can not help believing we are at fault in that par- 

 ticular. 



I do not believe that farming develops only the dull and prosy side of 

 life as we are sometimes told, and I certainly resent the charge that the 

 farmer has no aspirations above "hog and hominy." I believe that any 

 calling in life which means a ceaseless grind for dollars and cents makes a 

 man a being which finds no good in anything which does not bring in the 

 almighty dollar and he becomes dull and narrow, his sympathies are con- 

 tracted, his outlook shortened, and he is hardened to all the finer influences 

 of nature. But the farmer has no monoply in this case and it is equally 

 true of any business or professional man who makes money his god. One 

 reason, perhaps, for this laxity on the part of the farmer, is that his life is a 

 succession of flits from one busy season to another and, just at the time 

 when the home grounds require the most attention, the crop must be 

 planted and tended. 



In our desire to adorn our grounds and make of them bowers of beauty 

 the question of sanitation must have first consideration. Plants, vines and 

 trees may be used in prodigality, provided always that they do not exclude 

 sunshine and air to the extent that cellars become damp, closets mildewed 

 and pantries mouldy. 



The house and porch may be made attractive by the grace and beauty of 

 vines and flowers and climbing roses. A few dollars invested in seeds and 

 shrubbery will work wonders in transforming a plain and unattractive farm 

 house into a charming and attractive retreat. 



The average back yard is not a thing of beauty, and when it becomes a 

 receptacle for refuse, cans, scraps, etc., it is a sad commentary on the good 

 tastes of the occupants. Cannas, caladiums, hollyhocks, castor beans and 

 sweet peas may give privacy to a home by being used as screens between 

 front and back yard. They can be made very effective by banking them in 

 corners, against fences or buildings. Vines such as morning glories, moon 

 flowers, wild cucumber, trumpet vine, Virginia creeper, Japanese hops, 

 Madeira vines, woodbine, honeysuckle, ivies and clematis may be used to 

 cover a multitude of sins in the shape of unsightly places, such as unpainted 

 buildings, unattractive fences, clothes posts and screens between barn lots 

 and house. Flowers for bed and border— "their name is legion." Petunias 

 make an excellent flowering border, though I am not sure they are perennial 

 in this climate. 



Suppose a few families join in carrying out this idea. Can you imagine 

 how a whole neighborhood might be made to blossom as a rose? Shall we 

 begin a friendly rivalry along these lines.? 



