74 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and in this dift'erentiation the home grounds should become and 

 will become more or less distinct and separated from the other 

 lands. Farming seems to belong to that class of occupations 

 which by custom and convenience mixes the home and business 

 together in a way that is detrimental to both the home and 

 the business. It is like a shoemaker living in his factory, or 

 a merchant in his store : small mechanics, small merchants, and 

 small farmers may have to, in the beginning, live in a huddle, 

 but as the success of farming increases it should be possible 

 to separate out the home grounds, and make them distinct 

 from farming operations, and a most attractive and delightful 

 place to live in. In theory, the farmer should have the best 

 home in the world, but in practice his home is apt to be sur- 

 passed by the village and the city home. A more beautiful 

 city has come to stay, and sanitation and the fine arts are doing 

 much to make it more attractive. Even now one city in the 

 United States claims to have no slums, and there are cities 

 where the death rate is less than in the country. The farmers, 

 so far, have taken but little from the advancements that are 

 being made, to use for themselves. True, much that is needed 

 in the city is useless in the country, but the movement has a 

 wider meaning. It means a realization that beauty is an impor- 

 tant factor in our lives, in one sense fully as much so as the 

 food we eat. If we are surrounded with it, it, as it were, soaks 

 into us, and the heart grows from that absorption. Not all that 

 strengthens life enters through the mouth. The better elements 

 of growth enter through the eyes and ears ; nothing is more 

 ephemeral than music, — the sound dies away instantly when the 

 song or the instrument stops, and yet, what a tremendous 

 influence it exerts ; and now its twin sister, beauty, which 

 appeals to the eye as music does to the ear, and which has 

 been long neglected by the common people, is to take her place 

 upon the throne beside her sister, music. As every home is 

 happier for having music in it, so every home is better when 

 the blessings of beauty rest upon it and surround it. 



I once asked a clergyman why he kept on preaching week 

 after week, saying that sermons were usually forgotten before 

 the week was out, and very, very few remembered them a year, 

 "Young man," he said, for I was young when I asked that 

 question, "do you remember the dinner you ate a year ago?" 



