2d February, A. D. 1899. 



ESSAY 



BY 



EDITH BARXES, Northboro, VImss. 

 Theme: — Mosses and Lichens. 



Ladies and Gentlemen of the Worcester Horticultural Society : 

 When your Secretary wrote to me inquiring about subjects on 

 which I could address you, I gave hiru, among others, this talk 

 on Mosses and Lichens, saying it was of no practical value 

 whatever, and would not interest a club whose attention was 

 directed solely to those ends. Considered broadly, however, 

 it has, in common with all studies whose immediate efTect is to 

 open the eyes, quicken .the observation, give interest to nature, 

 a very practical bearing, especially to people living in the 

 country. 



I think we will all admit that any condition which obliges a 

 man to rearrange his plan of life, perhaps sell his home or 

 move to other regions, possibly change his occupation entirely, 

 is a practical consideration, as much so as finding out the best 

 varieties of plum or how to destroy the latest insect pest. Yet, 

 how often do we hear that one has left the farm or country 

 home because the wife or children are not contented. Any- 

 thing that makes a person happy or content in his enviroment 

 is of the highest practical value. Now all the studies of 

 nature, — landscape art, the birds, the flowers, these humbler 

 plants, — if begun and persevered in, so that they become a part 

 of one's spiritual nature, not a mere outside affectation, make 

 one of the strongest bonds between the individual and the soil, 

 man ajid a rural environment. 



