“O, here I see! 
An old man 
Yet I 
secured a somber piece of weedy ground and planted those 
unsightly bulbs gathered from various portions of Europe 
and America, and so secured this harvest of delight. Why 
should I be so highly honored and treated like a God? 
Thousands of the most gorgeous flowers are putting them- 
They vie with each other to see 
Who am I that I should have this army? 
laid aside from professional work, broken in health. 
selves on dress parade. 
which can make the most alluring and winsome appearance. 
Such a trousseau no bride ever wore. 
Whence came all these tints of woven splendor which 
60 into this rich carpet spread out before me? © You have 
read of that Oriental Carpet of Gems, the wonder of the 
world, where rmmbies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, yea, 
all the unfading, flowers of earth’s under garden, are min- 
gled in a fabric which shimmers, flashes and blazes in the 
sunshine. But that gem of gems cost millions. It is made 
of dead flowers which cannot breathe and which 8ive out 
no fragrance. My garden of gems is alive. Its beauty 
does not last as long, but it is mine, and while it lasts I am 
a millionaire. All of these acres are my bouguet. 
Whence did they derive these rich perfumes? The 
mingling of the rose and the violet, the pond lily and the 
heliotrope, the hinting, of cinnamon and the spices. Up 
from the masses there rise viewless clouds of incense which 
float above and wander away in the distant air, then sweep 
earthward so that you wade in billows of aroma. 
Whence came all this rich coloring— as if the tints had 
been taken from the sunsets and the mantles from the stars, 
all woven by deft and unseen fingers into these forms of 
entrancing, loveliness? 
Among, the crimsons what splendid flowers. There is 
stately Prince Imperial, further on is La Sublime and Louis 
Van Houtte and the showy Ville de Nancy. 
Among, the pinks the beautiful L’Esperance, the radiant 
Madame Geissler, Livingstone and a host of others. 
There is Jeanne d’Are with petals of gold and a center 
of snowy white, emblem of the fair soul of the war maiden, 
and in the heart of the flower, drops of blood as if the iron 
had entered her soul; and here is her daughter Golden 
Harvest; stately Festiva Maxima rises like a gueen in her 
snowy whiteness; Monsieur Dupont is a sturdy massive 
white with carmine sprinkled in the center; Couronne d’Or 
with heart of gold is one of the latest. 
Among, the somewhat variegated you find Faust, one of 
the most floriferous, overwhelmed with floods of bloom each 
year. But we cannot go into details when we have two 
hundred varieties all striving for recognition. 
Reverently I stand in this imperial presence. Instinctively 
I say, “How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God; 
how great is the sum of them.” All these radiant forms are 
the revelation of the love of the Father, interpreters of His 
thoughts, prophets of our own resplendent future. 
Close to 
me nods.” 
(A single flowering stem of Elwood Pleas.) 
How much the Great 
Florist would do for His children if they would only give 
This was His opportunity and He took it. 
His oldest daughter, good mother nature, was on hand to 
My garden teaches this lesson. 
Him a chance. 
How much 
What possi- 
Above us Divine ideals waiting, for 
a chance to alight and élorify the earth. 
work with me and evolve the plans of God. 
she would do for us if we would only help. 
bilities all around us. 
Come around to these rows. These plants are mine. I 
grew them from seed. See this lovely one with soft vel- 
vety petals of pink; see that one of purest white; look at 
that one robed in dazzling red with heart of gold. How 
happy and cheerful they look. They are mine. My eyes 
* * * And back in the unknown are 
other masses of undiscovered loveliness waiting, your beck 
first saw them. 
and mine. Sometimes it seems as if they would break open 
the gates and flood us with a glory yet unseen. 
Who would live in desolation when he might live in 
fairyland, where Nature and all her unseen forces will work 
day and night to lavish on him her choicest treasures? 
Plant in masses. Match God's great out-of-doors with 
abundance. Don’t be stingy when a little will bring, so 
much. Open all the gates and let the waiting, beauty of 
an earthly elysium settle around you. 
If you have only a small city lot, beautify that and give 
a kind Providence a chance to smile on you through the 
countenances of your flowers. 
Then again from the same author: 
Get Peonies, the most gorgeous flowers on earth; plant 
in masses, and have a splendid carpet of loveliness fit for 
Don’t be stingy with the front 
yard. A fine house in a neglected yard is like a one 
Plant abund- 
ance and do not depend on two or three flowers to glorify a 
the touch of angels’ feet. 
thousand dollar picture in a ten cent frame. 
whole lawn. Beauty is wealth; raise a crop of it and be 
rich. Let us get a combination and fix up the home so it 
will be a blessed memory in after years. The home is not 
a kennel, a stable, a sty, ora bam. Itisa dwelling, place 
for immortals, who stand on the borders of the eternal 
beauty, where the stars are planted in the vast flower 
gardens of the Father. 
If you have beautiful grounds, adorm them with an abund- 
ance of flowers. You will have your children associated 
with the most charming, companions, and they will have 
their influence. Your boys will not be boors, but gentle- 
men; your Girls will have lives moulded by the pure and 
the beautiful. 
What a soul hunger often comes to the wife and mother! 
Too often the front yard is neglected. Perhaps it is a hog 
pasture, or a hospital for disabled machinery, The farmer's 
She should have her 
When you have 160 
acres can you not spare her 
wife needs an attractive home. 
toilet room as well as her city sister. 
one, and enjoy it yourself 
with from 
early spring, till the hard 
frosts of autumn you can 
her, so that 
be welcomed by a pro- 
cession of beauty? 
The farmer is king by 
divine right. His domain 
reaches from the center of 
the earth up to the stars. 
He gets his title from man 
the Creator. 
Taking such a ait, he is 
under the highest obliga- 
and from 
tion to make the most of 
it, and not to rob it, but to 
keep it at its best. 
The Farm Beautiful 
should be a charming, pic- 
ture in Nature’s Sreat frame 
work all around it. 
nw 
Page 
