474 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



the city, quoting from Edward Owen Green, 

 the great leader of the flower culture move- 

 ment in England, as follows : 



" Our eyes, our ears, our senses of touch 

 and scent are so many avenues by which 

 various faculties of the mind are reached, 

 exercised and developed. A good and ca- 

 pable teacher recognises this, and works 

 largely by what are called object lessons. 

 Place a child in a garden, amid the perfume 

 and beauty of flowers, the songs of birds, 

 and ripple of running water, the successive 

 development of leaf and bud, and flower and 

 fruit, and you enforce the exercise of his best 

 mental powers by a sweet compulsion of 

 which he is almost unconscious. And what 

 is true of a child is true of the grown man 

 and woman, though the eff"ects of the silent 

 teaching may not be so rapid as the grow- 

 ing child. 



'' So I come to my moral and my message. 



** I say to the teacher of childhood, 

 whether you be father or mother, or other of 

 nature's monitors, or whether you be one 

 who has taken as a profession the highest of 

 all callings — I say to you — give the children,, 

 if you can, a bit of garden ground, or failing 

 that, a few plants in pots or window box to 

 tend. Associate yourself with their work of 

 flower culture. Teach them to do the best 

 for their floral friends, and tell them all you 

 know yourself of the mysteries of plant life. 

 You will find health and growth of mind in 

 your little ones flowing happily from their 

 garden work." 



Flowers were not only a pleasure to those 

 who cultivate them, but were a blessing to 

 the sick and afflicted in hospitals and sick 

 rooms. Those who encourage their children 

 in a love for flowers will not have much 

 cause for worriment about them in after 

 years. 



Fig. 2475. J. M. Hall's Garden, Hannah Street, Hamilton. 



