CHAPTEE IX. 



Oknamental Vines. 



"Flowers I bright, beautiful, love-beaming flowers, 

 They are linked with life's sweetest and sunniest hours; 

 Like stars about our pathway 

 They shine so pure and fair, 

 Blooming in rich profusion. 

 Greeting us ererywhere." 



Trees and flowers are not enough with which to adorn and beautify 

 our surroundings; we must have vines, an abundance of vines. A 

 house without vines is like a bird without a mate ; it wears a look of 

 desolation. Vines grow so thriftily, bloom so profusely, and can be 

 twined into so many beautiful forms — are so fresh, blooming and 

 fragrant — that they should be trained about every house. The most 

 modest little cot can be transformed into a flowery bower by the aid of 

 a few climbing plants. Your homes may lack the paint, gilding and 

 tapestry that adorn those of your neighbors, but if vines are trained 

 over the doors and windows, they will present a fresh beauty and glory 

 every Summer's morn, which the products of art cannot surpass. 



Nature has given us the means of adorning our surroundings, and 

 they are innocent, animating, and contribute to our piety towards her. 

 We do not half avail ourselves of the cheap riches wherewith she adorns 

 the earth. A few seeds, for instance, and a little trouble, would clothe 

 our houses every Summer as high as we choose, with draperies of green 

 and scarlet, and after admiring the beauty we might eat the produce. 

 But then this produce is a bean, and beans are vulgar. Nobody despises 

 a vine in front of a house, for vines are polite, and the grapes seldom 



