1893.] ESSAYS. 81 



gives an added beauty to the home grounds and increases the fra- 

 grance of the atmosphere around the same. 



The wisteria, the climbing rose, the trumpet creeper, the woodbine, 

 the English and Japanese ivy, are all lovely and graceful vines, every 

 one of which, in its full growth and beauty, is almost a garden in 

 itself. 



In the culture of flowers, discrimination should be used in the 

 selection of the varieties best adapted to the situation in which they 

 are placed. When plants and seeds of every variety are clustered 

 together indiscriminately in the same bed, they produce a variegated 

 and wild disorder of beauty which is bewildering and inharmonious 

 to the tasteful eye. 



For the best effect, the perpetual blooming plants should be chosen 

 rather than those which bloom unfrequently. Bare stalks and bare 

 soil in a flower garden make it look unsightly, and detract from 

 rather than add to the attractiveness of the home grounds. Each 

 kind, or those harmonizing in color, should be clustered together in 

 masses, thick enough to conceal the ground, as thereby an harmonious 

 combination of colors is produced, and unpleasant contrasts avoided. 

 If they appear to spring out of the green turf of the lawn they are 

 all the more beautiful and attractive in every way. When planted 

 this way the beds should not be raised up into mounds. If the 

 mounds are well cared for they look artificial ; and if they are 

 neglected, they soon get out of shape and look dilapidated. 



Then, too, in our hot and dry summer climate, the flowers are apt 

 to dry up on these mounds, and often assume an attitude of mute 

 supplication to heaven for a refreshing shower. 



It is better to give our care and attention to a few choice flowers 

 than to scatter and expend our energies on a multitude of imper- 

 fectly developed and undesirable ones. 



Thus far I have treated the use of flowers in the home grounds as 

 valuable chiefly for ornamentation, but they are no less valuable for 

 use in other ways. They are very useful as a source of pleasure. 

 Their fragrance is delicious to the smell, and their beauty gives com- 

 fort and satisfaction to the eye. 



This pleasure is enjoyed by every passing observer, and no doubt 

 it is a real pleasure to thousands of people who have never raised a 

 flower or learned the names of a half dozen of them. But this 

 pleasure to the mere observer is small, when compared to that which 

 the livino; cultivator of flowers feels when he watches the growth from 



