INDIANA HOKTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 359 



are before them today, in the fruit raising business, men who study the 

 conditions of soil and climate, can make a success of it. A gentleman 

 was asking me today about buying land for an orchard, and I told him 

 to buy land near his home, near the place where he was born— that that 

 was the best for him to have. I told him he knew all the local con- 

 ditions and could handle the orchard there more successfully than any- 

 where else. I said, however, that if the soil and the climate are not at 

 all suitable that he would have to pull out and go where they were; but if 

 he could manage it at all, to take the land near his own home, combining, 

 if possible, commercial horticulture with the best sort of home life, for 

 there is where one of the greatest opportunities of horticulture lies, in 

 getting out of the soil those things that will give ourselves and our 

 families immediate enjoyment. The laying out of home gi'ouuds, thb 

 planting of trees and shrubs suitable to those conditions, is a source of 

 the greatest enjoyment to any family who tries it. IMake the home sur- 

 roundings a beautiful park-like effect. Do away with the unsightly piles 

 of rubbish that so often disfigure the surroundings of a farm home. 

 Making the sun'oundings beautiful does not always mean the spending of 

 a large amount of money. It does not mean so much spending of money 

 as it does putting in a little time and thought on the matter. It does not 

 mean a landscape gardener nor the expenditure of thousands of dollars, 

 but it does mean the expenditure of care and thought as you go along. 

 Keep your eyes open and look for the beautiful trees and shrubs that grow 

 in your own county; plant them, and do away with the unsightly things 

 that surround your home. Do a little here and a little there, and keep 

 it up; you will soon be surprised to find that you have a beautiful place. 

 Most of the enjoyment of my life has been the planning and beautifying 

 of my own home. We hear once in a while about some of our millionaire 

 friends spending twenty-five, fifty or one hundred thousand dollars for a 

 magnificent painting by some master artist. They hang it on their walls, 

 and it is the same old thing today, yesterday, tomorrow and forever; 

 but a farm home can get just as beautiful a picture at a much less cost, 

 and it is an ever-changing picture throughout the whole year, winter as 

 well as summer, if we plan right, for the outlook from many of our 

 homes is beautiful, if we only open our eyes to see. 



Of course, somebody will get up and say, "Where is the money in 

 that?" Of course, there is none in clear, hard cash, but when you make 

 money you spend it to have some fun with, something for the comfort 

 and pleasure of self and family, and why not have the enjoyment out of 

 these things? If you can make life more beautiful by diverting some of 

 your money to your home grounds and surroundings, why, in the name 

 of the board of trustees, don't you do it, for nowhere else can you get 

 so much comfort. The opportunity the horticulturist has of building up 

 the right kind of a home is beyond estimation. It does not matter where 

 you begin, and you need never leave off; you can always be doing some- 



