PLANT BEAUTY. 43^ 



Thomas Harrison spoke of training the plants in a pyramidal 

 form. 



In regard to the application of sulphnr, Mr. Wood spoke of 

 using it, sometimes directly and sometimes on steam-pipes. 



Mr. Finlayson inquired of Mr. Wood whether he used any 

 particular fertilizer. The answer was that he had not tested all, 

 but uses sheep compost, compost from horned cattle, sulphate of 

 ammonia, and nitrate of soda. 



MEETING EOR LECTURE AND DISCUSSION. 



Saturday, January 30, 1897. 



A meeting for Lecture and Discussion was holden today at 

 eleven o'clock, the President, Francis H. Appleton, in the 

 chair. 



The following is an abstract of the lecture given : 



Plant Beauty. 



By Henry T. Bailey, MaesachusettB State SuperviBor of Drawing, Scituate. 



There are different kinds of love for flowers. There is the 

 scientific love ; those who have only this seldom get the true 

 message of the flowers. At the other extreme are people having 

 a sentimental love for flowers ; they pronounce their colors mar- 

 vellous, and gush indiscriminately over their beauty. The third 

 kind of love for flowers has a basis of intelligent appreciation* 

 The greatest enjoyment is when scientific love is combined with 

 a sympathetic appreciation of beaut3^ 



Plant beauty is of two sorts, beauty of color and beauty of 

 form. In some plants, like the calla, beauty of form predomi- 

 nates ; in others, like the pseony, beauty of color ; in still others, 

 like the gladiolus, the lines of stalk, flower, and bud are as 

 noticeably lovely as their colors. In the rose we have beauty 

 both of form and color. Plants conspicuously beautiful for 

 their form should not be gathered together in tight bouquets ; 

 each should be enjoyed by itself or with two or three companions 

 so grouped in a vase or other receptacle that the beauty of the 

 lines of each is enhanced by that of the others. Plants of lovely 

 color, on the other hand, are more effective when massed. One 

 snowball is insignificant ; a bushel basket full of branches crowded 



