CHAPTER FOURTEEN 



CULTIVATING THE BEAUTIFUL 



OOME one says that cleanliness is next to Godli- 

 ness; we may go farther, and say it is Godliness. 

 There is no possible excuse for unsightly or un- 

 seemly conditions in the country. We have come 

 out of the city to command our conditions, and can 

 command them. But we cannot do this if we our- 

 selves are untrained and uncouth. A man cannot 

 make his garden anything more beautiful than his 

 own soul. And that is just what you want to con- 

 sider, that nasty slop holes and old brush piles and 

 stinking cellars and unshapely yards are just your- 

 self. What you are you will do. So you will first 

 have to think finely, and to will finely. Then the 

 effort to create a noble place will react to ennoble 

 yourself. Your handsome lawn means that you 

 can think handsomely; your clean orchards and 

 gardens mean that you can feel purely. John Rus- 

 kin says that the same laws underlie spiritual beauty 



