222 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of these clubs would be drawn the nucleus of men who today tip 

 the political scales for a whole ward in favor of decent and even 

 creditable municipal government and for aldermen who stand 

 high a^ong the defenders of the people from the insidious encroach- 

 ment of corruption and private greed, who are looked up to as 

 leaders among progressive men, devoting their attention to solving 

 the problems of administration involved in the movement toward 

 the extension of municipal functions." 



Yes, our greatest hope for success lies in educating the children. 

 We should cultivate the out-door habit with them. There is nothing 

 that trains and strengthens their power for observation to such a 

 high degree as to be brought into contact with the varied forms 

 of nature — the study of living things under natural conditions. The 

 open air and the general peacefulness of nature tends to a like con- 

 dition of mind and soul. 



If the intelligent, reading parents would only help their children 

 more, not by doing their work for them but by encouraging them 

 to do it themselves, they would be laying the foundation for the ideal 

 citizens of the future. Working hand in hand with them in the gar- 

 den, much valuable information may be conferred that will be of vast 

 assistance in later years, when they are carrying the added responsi- 

 bilities of homes of their own, together with those of the communit}^ 

 Talk with them about the soil, about the seeds and plants, about cul- 

 tivation and fertilization ; then about the germination of the seed, 

 the effect of light, heat and moisture ; talk with them of the varied 

 habits of growth, of the trailing plants, the climbers, the bush form 

 and the tree type; talk of the insects that cause injury to plant life, 

 and then of the birds that are our friends in lessening their numbers. 

 You will soon be astonished at your own ignorance and find this 

 ignorance on your part an incentive to "post up" by reading the 

 nature books and a half dozen of the hundred or more excellent gar- 

 den and outdoor magazines. What endless topics for conversation 

 and thought? Home will mean much to children brought up in 

 this way, and your own range of vision will be enlarged in this at- 

 tempt to keep abreast with the unfolding of their minds. 



With the children rests our hope for the future progress of en- 

 lightened and true culture, and if we have been blessed with a 

 glimpse of the ideal life, let us impart it to the little ones near us, 

 both through example and precept, and we may then rest assured 

 that the good work will go on after we have laid aside all aggressive 

 work. 



Mr. Ole J • Hacen : There is an old song I learned when I first 

 came to this country and which is good for every day. I do not 



