STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 105 



•doing' induce their parents, who for some reason naay have neglected 

 this branch of the child's education, to purchase for them a few 

 seeds or plants for the adornment of their homes, for when the love 

 of flowers is once acquired by the child, the influence is felt by all 

 the family. 



*'They came in sight of a lovely shore, 



Yellow as gold in the morning light ; 

 The sun's own color at noon in wore, 



And had faded not at the tall of night ; 

 Clear weather or cloudy— 'twas all as one, 

 The happy hills seemed bathed with the sun ; 

 Its secret the sailors could not understand. 

 But they called the country Sunshine Land. 



''What was the secret? A simple thing- 

 It will make you smile when once you know — 



Touched by the tender finger of spring, 

 A million blossoms were all aglow ; 



So many, so many, so small and bright, 



They covered the hills with a mantle of light ; 



And the wild bee hummed, and the glad breezes fanned 



Through the honeyed fields of Sunshine Land. 



"If over the sea we two were bound. 

 What port, dear child, would we choose for ours? 



We would sail and sail till at last we found 

 This fairy gold of a million flowers. 



Yet, darling, we'd find, if at home we stayed, 



Of many and small joys our pleasures are made. 



More near than we think— very close at hand, 



Lie the golden fields of Sunshine Land." 



