THE CANADIAN IIOUTICULTURIST. 85 



Half the human race are women, and the true woman, upon whom 

 nature has set her seal of royalty, is now acknowledged to l>e the finest 

 specimen of woman kind upon earth, and she is now fully awakening 

 to her true interests, and great results must follow. Perhaps educa- 

 tion and prejudice may retard her work, hut tlie time is not distant 

 when men will " fling around her conquering footsteps more lavish 

 praises and perfumed flowers tlian ever wooed with intoxicating 

 fiagrauce the fairest butterfly o>i' the hall-room or opera." 



No healthy woman, from Queen Victoria down to the beggar at 

 the door, has a right to live with nothing to do. God never put a 

 human being on earth to waste a life, or indeed a single hour. 



" A creature out of work is beggary ; 



To Thee I come, 

 O King of Kings, finil room and use for me 

 In Thy great home." 



Time spent in healtliful rest and recreation is a necessity, and of 

 incalculable benefit to all workers, and they are the only ones who* 

 know how to enjoy it. I would tluit all women were pleasantly situ- 

 ated in homes of their own, but such is not the fact, for one-fifth of 

 womankind must be self-supporting; and a question of great impor- 

 tance before us at present is, how shall we make our dependent, 

 respectable women more healthy, respectable and self-sustaining ? 

 Many women, particularly widows with children, are feeling the 

 necessity of having a more agreeable work, and their thoughts are 

 taking a new turn. They are reaching out to new fields to claim, ami 

 conquer, and inay God help them, is our prayer. 



]\Iedical statistics show us that the average healthy life of a 

 woman running a sewing machine is but four years. To' be sure, she 

 lives beyond that time, but in most instances her life is but a dull 

 blank, for she can do little but sitffer. Many nol)le women are sitting- 

 down in sorrow and objectless grief, leading dull, indolent lives, 

 nursing every ache and pain, who are dependent upon relatives for 

 their support, upon whom they have no claim, because they feel that 

 they can do nothing for themselves. To si»ch and all others who feel 

 in their hearts that they ought to have some work to do, we would 

 say, take up the work of horticulture, if you have a natural love for 

 it; if not, do not attempt it, for you will most likely fail. But if you 

 love it so well that you can identify your life with it, you ccinuot fail 



