LANDSCAPE ADORNMENT A UNIVERSAL OBLIGATION. 403 



Turn your attention now to the slums of the great cities, and 

 learn, from the writings and efforts of Jacob A. Riis and others, of 

 the present and resulting influence of the daily sight of a small 

 piece of land free from stone, brick and wood, and having a few 

 flowers and shrubs planted therein. Think of the temporary es- 

 cape from heat, furnished the poor for an hour on a summer's even- 

 ing, by providing a long, narrow dock extending into the water; 

 of a day's ride up and down the Hudson river, between beautiful 

 shores, adorned both by man and the Creator; and then perhaps, 

 for the few, the privilege of spending two entire weeks at a country 

 home. Ask the participants, both the old and the young, and what 

 do they say ? Observe, and how do they act ? We all know, with- 

 out amplifying. It is all for good and that alone. 



Come with me now to the country with its villages and ham- 

 lets. The country and village families have not, to the same extent, 

 the intellectual, social, moral and religious advantages as are near 

 at hand and nearly free of expense to the families of the large towns 

 and cities. Hence, as farmers, if possible, we must balance this 

 shortage with improved opportunities of another character, which, 

 we believe, can be more than met by landscape adornment 



Among my earliest recollections, are the pleasures and recrea- 

 tion enjoyed under and in my father's and grandfather's fruit trees, 

 of varied kinds, and in the adjoining forests, gathering the beech- 

 nuts, walnuts and butternuts, and following the winding stream of 

 pure, clear water that meandered for a mile or more through the 

 farm. It is a universal fact that children naturally love the beauti- 

 ful, and we well know its influence throughout childhood, in con- 

 trast with the effect of its absence and the baneful effect of ugli- 

 ness, disorder and dirt. Numerous proofs could be given, if the lim- 

 its of this paper permitted, that landscape adornment has a wonder- 

 ful bearing in building up a noble, unselfish and useful manhood 

 and womanhood. Doubtless, those in my presence could rehearse 

 instances within their own knowledge confirming the above asser- 

 tion, that would require the time of the several sessions of the day 

 for the telling. The writer assuredly believes that the privilege of 

 looking, from the earliest remembrance, upon the beauties of a 

 decorated prairie landscape, with the opportunity of partaking of 

 the luxuries that go therewith, will greatly tend to enlarge the 

 sympathy and interest of the participant for his fellow-man, and 

 impel to renewed and continued efforts for the welfare of all of 

 God's creatures. 



Realizing from our own experience, observation and history 

 that beauty and picturesqueness in all of our surroundings have an 



