FOR THE HOME BEAUTIFUL 193 



its collective noses at mere mention of the "hoi 

 polloi," just so are the noses of average folks 

 inclined to take an upward slant at the mention of 

 weeds as being things either desirable or useful. 



However, just stop for a moment, please, and 

 consider this fact. Every plant that we have 

 today was once a weed, is the descendant of a 

 weed, or the evolution of a weed. 



There are those weeds that we can, in our limited 

 intelligence, class only as ugly and worthless. 

 There are others that have points of beauty 

 or usefulness, but that possess the unhappy habit 

 of spreading rapidly wnere they gain a foothold, 

 or they may have some other objectionable feature 

 connected with them. There are many others, how- 

 ever, that will be found to work beautifully into 

 the scheme of the hobbyist who chooses somewhere 

 an odd section or corner there to start, study and 

 maintain a weed garden that will be be a revela- 

 tion and a wonder to those whose privilege it is to 

 view the collection. 



Another thing, such a garden costs not a 

 cent in real money, and it seems an ideal way in 

 which to first interest school children in the sub- 

 ject of botany, and to inculcate into their young 

 lives a love for the things of Nature that will 

 endure for a lifetime. 



Where indeed will we go to find more daintily 

 formed flowers than those of the wild carrot or 



