98 WOKCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891. 



when framed and 'hung on the walls half the callers read, "No 

 T, no teapot," when the designer intended it for " No Cross, no 

 Crown." 



And so with plants, they need not be costly green-house speci- 

 mens, which always disappoint, by the extra care demanded, 

 and the lack of necessary conditions. A few packages of seed, 

 a little fertile garden soil reinforced with a dash of ground bone, 

 and a little loving care, and lo ! the wooing of Flora is done and 

 she graces the home with her showy and perfumed presence. 



No art of social life, has attracted more attention of late years 

 than the construction of dwellings ; the time and thought of an 

 army of intelligent men is devoted thereto ; numerous journals 

 serve to convey their ideas from one to another, and have com- 

 pletely revolutionized the whole building trade. This condition 

 supplemented by the taste and skill of the landscape gardener, 

 will in a few decades make the ordinary dwelling of to-day as 

 obsolete as the log house of a century ago. In no one direction 

 has this improvement taken place more than in the methods of 

 heating. The old stone fireplace with all its charms was an 

 expensive, imperfect and laborious method, and it is well for our 

 health and comfort that it has passed away. The latest systems 

 of heating by steam are wonderfully complete, are satisfactory 

 in their results, giving a uniform temperature night and day, at 

 a very moderate cost, and I am glad to note that they are being 

 rapidly introduced into rural homes, one firm in my own vicin- 

 ity placing two hundred and eighty during the last year. 



I know of no greater comfort of a country home than this, or 

 one more conducive to health and longevity. I have noticed a 

 gradual betterment of the conditions and surroundings of rural 

 life within my own memory. 



There has been a steady improvement in the appearance of the 

 buildings themselves, and especially in their furnishings. With 

 the broadening of New England ideas — and God knows they 

 needed it — there has been a result shown in the dwelling ; less 

 inclination to hedge oneself in with high walls either of preju- 

 dice or actuality. The front fence is an indication of it ; in 

 many villages not one is to be seen, and with it has gone the 

 narrow prejudice and feeling of sect and denomination, adding 



