258 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



must have a plaza, as Paris, Vienna, Venice, 

 New York^ Chicago have theirs. In conclusion, 

 Mr. Beck commends to the Philadelphia city 

 fathers the noble decree made by the council- 

 lors of Florence, six centuries ago, v^hen they 

 had decided to rebuild their cathedral: 



"Since the highest mark of human prudence 

 in a people of noble origin is to proceed in the 

 management of their affairs so that their mag- 

 nanimity and wisdom may be evinced in their 

 outward acts, we order Arnolfo, head master 

 of our commune, to make a design for the reno- 

 vation, of Sta. Eeparata in a style of magnifi- 

 cence which neither the industry nor power of 

 man can surpass, that it may harmonize with 

 the opinion of many wise persons in this city 

 and state, who think that this commune should 

 not engage in any enterprise unless its inten- 

 tion be to make the result correspond with that 

 noblest sort of heart which is composed of the 

 united will of many citizens." 



"It is the greatest mistake in the world to 

 bury one's self in any one set of experiences 

 to the exclusion of all others. No man, pro- 

 fessional or business, gets the most out of life, 

 or prts the most into his own life, when he nar- 

 rows himself to a single rut, even if that rut 

 be along the high places. How much more true 

 is it of the mother, who is the dispenser of all 

 good things to her family of children! She 

 must be constantly adding to her own ex- 

 periences, constantly increasing her sympathies 

 and her educational resources. She is to be all 

 things to her child, therefore she must get all 

 things out of her wider horizon of life."— Dr. 

 Arthur S. Cheney. 



The National Government and Floriculttire 



Uncle Sam is taking an intelligent and in- 

 creasing interest in plants and their culture. 

 This fact is shown clearly by the part our na- 

 tional government will take in the floricultural 

 exhibits at the St. Louis World's Fair. One 

 of the most interesting novelties at the ex- 

 position will be a monster garden map of the 

 United States, with paths for the state boun- 

 daries. The map will constitute a part of the 

 exhibit of the Bureau of Plant Industry of 

 the national government, and two acres will be 

 taken up with it. This would make the state of 

 Illinois about seventy-five feet long. The state 

 lines will be marked by walks in cinders, red 

 gravel or some other material. In each state 

 reservation will be shown the economic plants 

 produced in the state and for which the state 

 is known. The corn of Kansas, the wheat 

 of the middle states, the cotton, tobacco and 

 sugar cane of the Southern states, the orange 

 and pineapple of Florida, will all be shown. 

 Those plants which do not grow in this latitude 

 normally will be forced under glass in hotbeds. 



With tliis map spread out on the southern 



slope, in the place allotted, it would appear 

 from the Agricultural Building Hill like a 

 bird's-eye view of the United States, while the 

 visitor walking on the paths would, so far as 

 vegetation was concerned, be traveling through 

 the country. 



Professor Galloway, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, who prepared these exhibits, has 

 also given considerable attention to the school 

 garden idea. In order to ascertain just what 

 can be done practically in the public schools, 

 Professor Galloway has arranged for a course 

 of experimental training in floriculture and 

 horticulture at the Washington Normal School. 

 A plot of ground 150 feet square, and a green- 

 house have been secured for the use of the 

 normal school. During the mnter the young 

 girls are instructed in the common operations 

 of plant propagation, such as making cuttings 

 and placing them in sand to root, then potting 

 them and taking general care of the young 

 plants in the way of watering, ventilating and 

 regulating the temperature. 



"I know of a home where it was always the 

 custom on Sunday afternoons to sing in turn 

 each one's favorite hymn. This was always 

 kept up, and years afterward when all were 

 separated and some were far across the seas, 

 the mother, even if she were alone, would sing 

 every hymn in turn, even the hymns of the two 

 who had passed on to the heavenly home, and 

 the men and women out in the world every week 

 remembered that hour and their hearts joined 

 that mother's as she sang those songs alone in 

 the old home — no, not alone, for they were all 

 with her in spirit."— Fra?)m Sounder Williams. 



A Unique School for Women 



Lowthorpe, a school of horticulture and land- 

 scape gardening for women, has been estab- 

 lished at Groton, Massachusetts, by Mrs. 

 Edward Gilchrist Low. The school occupies 

 an attractive colonial house in the picturesque 

 old town of Groton, within easy reach of Boston. 



Lowthorpe is unique in its facilities and 

 the scope of its work. A corps of instructors 

 will present the theoretical part of the course 

 in a series of lectures and direct the practical 

 work in the greenhouse, gardens, nurseries and 

 orchards. The lectures on landscape gardening 

 and garden design will be given by one of Mr. 

 Frederick Low Olmsted's most efficient associ- 

 ates. The course includes horticulture, arbori- 

 culture, botany, greenhouse work, and work 

 in the flower, fruit and vegetable gardens, 

 economic entomology and ornithology, agri- 

 cultural chemistry, plane and solid geometry, 

 surveying, free-hand and mechanical drawing, 

 landscape gardening, and garden design. The 

 object of the work is to help women to help 



