THE CANADIAN" HORTICrLTURIST. 



53 



joii get that Scotch dictionary we have 

 promised you : 



" Dinna greet faither." 

 But a tear dropped frae her ain bonnie 

 blue ee. and the two wept together. 



Kind words of sympathy to the 

 sorrowing, and good ad\'ice to all. was 

 given by the Rev. Dr. Potts, of Mon- 

 treal. He counseled them to carry 

 with them to their new homes all they 

 had been taught that w-as good in the 

 land they loved .so well. The land 

 you're going to is a goodly land, he 

 said ; but as you keep us closely to our 

 text, sir, here we leave the little band 

 of sea-girt worshrppei-s. and endorse 

 the words : It's a goodly land, this 

 Canada of ours. In few parts of our 

 5iir world does the industrious hand 

 find .so liberal a return of good tilings. 

 If we don't have this it's because we 

 fail in the means to obtain it. 



A retrospect of the past brings to 

 the minds of us all many failures ; but 

 as some one wisely remarked at our late 

 meeting, have not our gi-eatest suc- 

 cesses often resulted from the study of 

 our failures ] Success sometimes kills. 

 After counting the profits of that ex- 

 traordinary crop of fruit or vegetables, 

 has not the first idea been to go into it 

 two-fold next year, but how often the 

 result has been different we all know. 

 The season, the soil, the seed, causes 

 many and unknown had to do with it, 

 but the effect was a poor crop. 



Have you failed in some of the 

 novelties of the day to sustain the 

 reputation heaped on them ] If you 

 have not, it is because you have been 

 more cautious than some of your neirrh- 

 bors. That strawberry lauded as 

 beautiful and productive, doomed to be 

 the ooming one of the season, when 

 you went to gather the fruit, where 

 were the bunches that looked so well 

 on paper ? Didn't echo answer. Where ? 

 Can't you tell a similar tale of ra.sp- 



berries, blackberries, melons, itc. Such 

 disappointments, experienced by most 

 of us, should be no cause for dis- 

 couragement. Just as sure as the seed 

 is the birthplace of the plant, so sure 

 is the cause of the effect. The exercise 

 of thought and observation will detect 

 many causes of failure. Sift them out. 

 Read over the back volumes of the 

 Horticulturist, consult your neighbors 

 interested in these matters, ami your 

 chances of success will be doubled.' By 

 all means lend a hand in testino- new 

 varieties, but don't risk your crop on 

 them. " Prove all things, hold fast 

 that which is good." 



Have you failed to beautify your 

 home and screen you from summer's 

 scorching sun and winter's stormy bla-st 

 by planting evei-greens ? If no] don't 

 delay another year. A neighbour of 

 uiine remarked to me lately, " I would 

 willingly mortgage my farm for s.500 

 could I surround my house with a 

 li\ing shelter like yours ;" and yet 

 when j)l;inting these very trees I was 

 often asked where the profit was. 

 About that same time I complimented 

 the owner of a well got up house on his 

 taste in planting an evergreen hed^e 

 around it. He replied, but there's no 

 money in it 1 Oh ! that almighty dollar. 

 That hedge is to-day an object of more 

 admii-ation than the costly mansion. 

 Let me quote a few lines from the 

 writings of one who realized the beau- 

 tiful in nature. I'll add nothing more 

 from my rusty pen to mar the beauty 

 of his words : 



" Without disparaging classic taste, 

 I venture to say that there is not a 

 poor worm which we tread upon, nor a 

 sere leaf, that, like a ruined but reck- 

 less man, dances merrily in its fallen 

 state to the autumn winds, but lui,s 

 su|jerior claims on our study and 

 admiration. The child who plucks a 

 lily or rose to pieces, or crushes the 

 fragile form of a fluttering insect, de- 



