CONCLUSION 



The amount of joy to be gotten out of a few acres, 

 run in the name of mutual aid and good-will, is 

 amazing. Birds sing in concert, and the cows have 

 ways of expressing joyous good-will. Bossy rubs 

 her head against your arm, and asks you to scratch 

 her neck. The fowls jump on your shoulders and 

 eat from your hand. Fear is banished. The strug- 

 gle for existence passes largely into a generous 

 cooperation for the common good. Chirping 

 birds hop about your door, and catbirds perch 

 near your balcony to talk noble things in bird lan- 

 guage. Guns are banished. The spirit of killing 

 becomes abhorrent. Life grows sacred. 



The catching power of pure horticulture is im- 

 mense. One well-designed home sets the fashion, 

 until the town becomes notable for beauty. Un- 

 fortunately, one gaudy architectural display is 

 liable to be mistaken for a true home, and copied as 

 a model, until a whole community is artificialized. 

 This book has expressed no sympathy with costly 

 houses. A home, in any of its evolutions, should 

 never express more of expense than of character. 

 The thought of money value should be entirely ab- 

 sent when you observe a human residence as when 

 you observe a well-dressed man or woman. A 



[369] 



