BY WAY OF 



Man, wife, and all the children ought to work 

 together for whatever adds beauty to the home, 

 and nothing is more effective in this line than a 

 good flower-garden. I can remember when it 

 was considered an indication of weakness for 

 a man to admit that he was fond of flowers. I 

 look back with amusement to my own experience 

 in this respect. Because I loved flowers so well, 

 when I was a wee bit of a lad, that I attempted 

 to grow them, I was often laughed at for being 

 a " girl-boy." " He ought to have been a girl," 

 one of my uncles used to say. " You'll have to 

 learn him to do sewing and housework." It 

 often stung me to anger to listen to these sarcastic 

 remarks, but I am glad that my love for flowers 

 was strong enough to keep me at work among 

 them, for I know that I am a better man to-day 

 than I would have been had I allowed myself to 

 be ridiculed out of my love for them. If the 

 children manifest a desire to have little gardens 

 of their own encourage them to do so, and feel 

 sure that the cultivation of them will prove to be 

 a strong factor in the development of the child 

 mind. 



*i* ^P 'i^' "♦' ^^ 



Seedling Hollyhocks almost always look well 

 when winter comes, but in spring we find their 



