STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 179 



heard the story. The Empress Josephine was petitioned for 

 Charney's release. Now Josephine was an enthusiastic admirer of 

 flowers. It is said she loved the crimson of her lilies better than 

 the hue of her royal robes, and the fragrance of her magnolias, far 

 more than the breath of courtly flattery. She, therefore, became 

 Charney's willing advocate, and he was soon liberated, it is needless 

 to say, a changed man. A faded blossom, in a valuable locket, long 

 told the story to his descendants. Insect life, equally with plant 

 life, shows adaptation and design. Can any one say that natural 

 outdoor beauty is without moral influence? 



The education of children is too often conducted by prosy and 

 dull methods. The deservedly popular object lessons are hardly 

 frequent enough. How can a mother so effectually tell her little 

 ones to be joyous, like the birds, industrious as the bees, and 

 modest like the violets, as when these liv^ing objects are present? 

 A very young child may be taught to pity thirsty plants, and to 

 carry them cold water. What better place than a garden for tel- 

 ling about Gethsemane's scenes, or about that heavenly home, 

 "the leaves of whose trees are for the healing of the nations!" An 

 acquaintance, a refined woman, who went west at an early day, and 

 amid gre^ t privations, said, in answer to wondering inquiries. " In 

 summer my children had always one place fit to receive their 

 visitors — the garden." Will not such a painstaking mother 

 keep her loved ones at home and away from temptation? 



In practical America, the economic aspects cf a question always 

 command attention. There is never a lack of women and 

 girls ready, for money, to enjoy sunshine, and to improve health, 

 by tying and picking hops, or picking sage and berries. An ac- 

 quaintance, a farmer's wife, left a widow with a large family, 

 carried on her farm, kept her children together, and reared them 

 all to fill respectable stations. The Youth's Companion lately told 

 of two sisters with feeble, aged parents and no resource other than 

 a small, poor farm. They seeded considerable of the land for pas- 

 ture, bought cows and fowls, set out an orchard, learned to 

 do many new things, hired their hardest work done, and gained, 

 beside the respect of all who knew them, a fair competence. 

 Have there not been many similar cases. 



Not every one has a taste for farming, nor the strength. Per- 

 haps no inexperienced person ought to try such work. But, if a 

 woman is already living on a farm, and necessity arises, instead of 

 selling at panic prices, she better, at least, try the experiment of re- 

 maining there and managing the business. Poultry is especially 



