GARDEN CLASSIFICATION, 279 



from groveling thoughts and desires, but also leads it to purer 

 and higher aspirations. Not only is there wisely implanted in 

 us a general love for these things, but an attachment to individ- 

 ual trees and shrubs which have been planted by our own hands, 

 or by the good and the wise of past generations. Men every- 

 where are prone to be unsettled, and to wander wherever novelty 

 may lead them, to the utter destruction of right mental training. 

 To counteract this there is nothing so effective as attachment to 

 particular localities and all their features, whether trees, moun- 

 tains or streams. Nothing gives such a depth of meaning to the 

 word home and creates so strong a determination to preserve it sa- 

 cred by the performance of every duty of a good citizen. It should 

 therefore be the desire of every man to provide a pleasant home 

 for his children, for upon a happy childhood depends far more 

 than is generally supposed the character of the man. The father 

 should encourage, as one element of happiness a, love for vege- 

 tation in all its forms of created beauty, whether tree, shrub 

 or flower. The child who has thus been educated and taught 

 to look upon all these objects of his attachment as visible proofs 

 of Divine beneficence will go forth into the world armed with a 

 shield more effective than a thousand admonitions, and when 

 temptation assails him, will find no slight defense in a recollec- 

 tion of his early home, of the trees under which he has so often 

 played, or read, or thought, and the flowers whose glowing colors 

 have so often charmed his eye. We are very certain this is no 

 mere sentiment or fancy of the brain, for we feel assured that nei- 

 ther vice nor immorality, nor hardness of heart, nor disregard of 

 the feelings and welfare of others, can readily exist where the mind 

 is thoroughly imbued with a love for trees and flowers, and with a 

 full appreciation of the many sources of delight bountifully be- 

 stowed upon man in the various objects of exquisite beauty in 

 the vegetable world. 



We have wandered somewhat from our subject, but we would 

 gladly write still more, if we could only convince our readers 

 of the great importance of this love for trees and plants — 

 and for roses among them — and of its highly conservative influ- 



