WINK-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 249 



ternary. It is not considered quite stylish, or the proper 

 thing for women, to work outdoors." To these I would say, 

 " I know of hundreds of estimable ladies who work their own 

 flower gardens, water and tend them; and I have never seen 

 the finger of reproach pointed at them for doing so, but they 

 were, if anything, held in higher esteem by their neighbors 

 and friends for thus seeking recreation and pleasure among 

 God's choicest gifts. Throw away this mawkish sentiment, 

 fallacious as it is; and believe that all honest labor, commen- 

 surate to your strength, is ennobling instead of degrading ; 

 that " to the pure all things are pure," and certainly there can 

 be nothing wrong in light work, under God's own sky, among 

 the choicest of His handiwork, and in daily and intimate com- 

 munion with Nature, which will naturally "lead you up to 

 Nature's God." I hope that my fair readers, (and I am vain, 

 enough to hope that I will have many) will see in this, not a 

 fanciful and unreal theory, but help, by their example and 

 advice to make it a practical reality. I would not add one 

 single iota of labor to the task of those who already have their 

 full share; I would rather lighten it by giving to each good 

 housewife a pleasant companion and friend, who can help her 

 occasionally, and spend her spare time in the vineyard as in- 

 dicated ; and furnish pleasant and light employment to thou- 

 sands, who are now confined in the cities, and inadequately 

 paid for work that will eventually ruin their constitution. I 

 want to bring them to a healthier atmosphere, morally and 

 physically, than they now breathe. And I am confident that 

 my lady friends, with their usual good sense, will aid in the 

 good work. 



