382 MINNESOTA STATE HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



In selecting trees and shrubs, select those that do best in the 

 locality. The wild crab apple tree is both useful and ornamental. 

 Its fruit makes delicious jelly, and I know of no flower more beauti- 

 ful than the wild crab apple blossom. The cut-leaf birch makes a 

 pretty ornamental tree because of its drooping habit and beautiful 

 foliage. 



The author of "The Solitary Summer'' says, "My idea of a 

 garden is that it should be beautiful from end to end and not start 

 off in front of the house with fireworks going off at its farthest limit 

 into sticks." If flowers are arranged in with the shrubbery, they 

 are more effective. The flowers against the green background seem 

 to show more what they are, show their character, as it were. 



There is much that may be and ought to be said about back 

 yards. The back yard is an index to the character of the people 

 who occupy the house. To keep the back yard and porch looking 

 as neat and tidy as the front yard and porch is a test that some of 

 us cannot successfully meet. A back yard may be a place to which 

 one can go for rest and be inspired by his surroundings, or it may 

 be a place to avoid. All of the refuse from the kitchen should be 

 taken care of as soon as possible and not allowed to stand around 

 in the back yard. What cannot be utilized can be burned. Have 

 the flowers here just as beautiful as those in the front yard. 



The small fruit and vegetable garden should receive their full 

 share of attention, but there is not time to describe them here. 



Perhaps some one may ask, "Does landscape art pay?" There 

 are many reasons for believing it does pay. There is an educational 

 value in the beautiful. Hearts are softened and souls are strengthened 

 by attractive surroundings. There is also a money value in the 

 beautiful. Take, for example, a farm home with this embellish- 

 ment and compare it with one where there are no trees, no shrub- 

 bery, where perhaps even flowers of any kind have not yet found 

 their way. Which will sell for the highest price? Is there any- 

 thing attractive about a barren farm home ? Will any one care to 

 think of such a place as home? The farm with the trees, shrubbery 

 and flowers will bring the most money because of these attractions. 

 Then there is a certain pride and pleasure in the home that has been 

 handed down from generation to generation. As our country grows 

 older, here, as in England, the family homestead will be reverenced. 

 It is a worthy ambition to make a home, and like any other life work 

 it requires a good plan, with years of devotion, to bring it to attrac- 

 tive perfection. 



