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430 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. * 
A PLEA FOR THE BEAUTIFUL IN HORTICULTURE. 
MRS. E. B. CRANE, AUSTIN. 
It is expected that any one who undertakes to address this organi- 
zation shall be able to offer some opinion or thought that may in. 
struct the members individually or collectively on the subject of 
horticulture, and that they may be benefited by the suggestions. 
I have often wondered how a political speaker, canvassing the 
state for votes, who has no knowledge of agriculture more than to 
pay for a landscape gardener or a foreman to manage his affairs, 
how he can speak tocrowds of agriculturists, each of whom knows 
more about the work than he does himself. Yet heis able to interest 
the people and roll off words of knowledge to them as though he 
had actual experience and his whole life had been devoted to the 
cause. 
Iam no horticulturist, my experience in this progressive work is 
very limited, but lam urged to say something to you and, though 
Iam not canvassing for office,and do not expect applause or be 
solicited to have my efforts printed in the daily papers, I am willing oe 
to add my mite to help promote the good work of beautifying and 7 
improving our homes and grounds and gardens. I would like to 
emphasize the thought that we must accept opportunities as they 
come tous. If we are not able to praise the highest point to be at- 
tained, we can at least do something to show that the world and its — 
best interests move, and that we are not willing to be left behind in 
this active, progressive work. 
It is our duty to find delight and pleasure in life in all things 
around us, to be contented and make others happy; not to live 
without making a continual advancement towards better strivings, | 
and to accept the best things for our happiness and to transmit to | 
others our contentment of mind. We were talking with a friend 
the other day, who is now living in one of our large cities, whose 
work calls her up before light in the morning, and when she returns 
at night weary and tired she must climb a long flight of stairs to 
her room. She says she often retires very much wearied, but she 
added: “I put back my curtains and enjoy the rest so, because I see 
the stars when I go to sleep, and the bright stars greet me in the 
morning.” 
I often think that grounds laid out in prescribed angles with 
regular lines of trees and shrubs and bordered beds fail to give as 
much real pleasure as grounds where less order prevails. The “4 
children enjoy the woods, the brooks and the rolling lands, because 
they are restful and natural. So do we older people, and though it 
would not be best to build our homes in such places, we may enjoy 
a modified form of nature cared for by careful hands. 
One day several years ago, our children were entertaining a num- 
ber of their young associates in our yard, and they were very 
happy playing their outdoor games, swinging in the deep shade 
of trees, and rolling and rollicking over the lawn. The father of 
one of the girls came in his carriage to take her home, as the party 
ended, and he looked under the trees rich in their deep foliage and 
