STATE POMOLOOICAL SOCIETY. 53 



and should be shared in by each member of the famil}-. Too many 

 fail by attempting the culture of exotics which will not always sur- 

 vive our Maine winters. The hardiest of our plants prove the most 

 satisfactory. Geraniums need but very little care and are always 

 bright with blossoms. Ivies, callas, fuchsias, abutilons and caunas 

 amply repay all the attention they receive — and now that veranda 

 gardening is becoming so popular a new zest seems to be given to 

 the window culture, that there may be an abundance of plants for 

 early transplanting out of doors. Boxes perched anywhere are 

 attractive. The fernery may be a constant source of pleasure. It 

 needs very little care and may be simple in its construction— covered 

 with glass or uncovered — from the Wardian case to a simple plate 

 of moss and ferns. The unrolling of the downy fronds of the ferns 

 affording never ceasing pleasure. The extent to which our native 

 ferns may be cultivated has not been tested as it should be. Thev 

 are not particularh' attractive to the farmer as they monopolize his 

 fields and pastures, but as graceful foliage about our homes, the}- 

 are unsurpassed. Boxes of violets in the cooler rooms of the house 

 are very pleasing winter decorations. All take kindly to out of door 

 gardening, finding in their open beds infinitel}' more than "pansies 

 for thoughts." Who does not feel the contrast between a home 

 made bright with flowers, and one in which, in winter, no plants are 

 seen ? and who can estimate the effect upon the lives of those who 

 share such homes, in the cultivation of taste, the enlarging of the 

 moral nature, and happifying the heart? 



''To me the meanest flower that blooms can give 

 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." 



Truly "we are creatures that look before and after; the more 

 surprising that we do not look around a little, and see what is pass- 

 ing under our very eyes." It is easy to interest children in flower 

 culture and window gardening, but far more easy and satisfactory 

 to lead them to the study of our native wild flowers, "earth's culture- 

 less buds," that spring up ever} where about us. God made the 

 flowers bright and sweet, not only to attract humming birds and 

 insects, but the children also. Have you ever taken the baby out 

 into the fields in summer, when the buttercups and daisies were in 

 bloom ? You have been impressed with the fact that the love for 

 flowtrs seems inborn. Sad indeed that so enlightening and purify- 

 ingjan agent should be crushed out of its future life. It is a law of 

 our being that the mind must be helped, stimulated to educate itself. 



