ENCOURAGEMENT OF AMATEUR GARDENING. 



*T IS surprising that in so vast a ter- 

 ritory as the United States more 

 interest is not taken in the cultiva- 

 tion of flowers, vegetables and 

 fruits, and especially the small 

 fruits, by artisans and others liv- 

 ing in the suburbs of cities and 

 towns, and more astonishing is it 

 that these useful and wholesome 

 articles of every-day life should be 

 neglected by the rural population. 

 Strange it does appear, but it is 

 true in too many instances, that 

 the farmer and his laborer should be content to buy 

 the stale and insipid fruits of the stores when they 

 have every facility to grow them in sufficient quan- 

 titles to last their families a whole year. The qual- 

 ity alone, in the home grown fruit, should be of it- 

 self sufficient incentive. This apathy to the good 

 things so near at hand in the village community 

 must be deplored by all citizens who are interested 

 in the development of their country, and it behooves 

 all to try to find a remedy. In Great Britain almost 

 every cottager has his currant and gooseberry patch, 

 at least if no patch is visible, a few bushes are sure 

 to be found, planted generally by the sides of the 

 walks, and a struggling apple or pear tree is also 

 generally to be observed. In many cases more fruit 

 is raised than is required for the supply of the house- 

 hold ; the surplus is generally sold to aid in the 

 maintenance of the family. If the above is true 

 of that country, ought it not to be doubly so of this ? 



To educate these different classes up to the necessary 

 point is a very difficult task, yet strenuous efforts should 

 be made to do so. All our efforts must be expended 

 with a distinct object in view, otherwise it must fail. The 

 first great effort must be to get rid of the indifference, to 

 things horticultural, by the working classes ; the next to 

 show, however complicated the culture of fruits may 

 appear on the outside, the thing is in itself a matter of 

 great simplicity. To encourage the cultivation of fruits, 

 efforts must be made to destroy the feeling of unrest 

 that pervades so many classes by creating a love of home, 

 and to assist all to the greatest possible extent to make 

 their dwellings beautiful by surrounding them with trees 

 and fiowers, and thus awaken a love for the beautiful in 

 all members of the family. In after years the memor- 

 ies of the roving sons and daughters of the family will 

 thus be led often to revert to the ivied porch or rose 

 bedecked veranda ; to the pleasant summer house with 

 its honeysuckle and clematis, to the well kept lawn where 



they played many a happy game of tennis or croquet. 

 Memories will thus be awakened by the sight of a car- 

 nation, pink or gilliflower that otherwise would have 

 lain dormant, and the wanderer will thus be led to gather 

 around him plants that have a memory attached to them, 

 and the garden of the old home becomes again a reality ; 

 he will gather his family around him and never tire 

 of telling them stories connected with his plants, and so 

 instil into their minds lessons that will never be forgot- 

 ten. 



The question will be asked, " How is this to be ac- 

 complished ?" The ways to set about it are not numer- 

 ous, it is true. The first course would be for the horti- 

 cultural societies to offer prizes for fruits grown by cot- 

 tagers and others, having small holdings. The prizes, 

 for the first few years, would have to be very substantial 

 ones so as to lead the artisan and others to compete. At 

 all the horticultural shows and state fairs there should 

 be classes in the fruit, flower and vegetable sections set 

 apart especially for the accommodation of the classes 

 referred to. The artisan or villager cannot be expected 

 to patronize these big shows if he is to compete with 

 the best known growers in the country, but give him 

 classes to himself, and you will be surprised by the 

 amount of interest he will take in them. The large 

 shows are excellent institutions, but they are not likely 

 to do much to encourage a love of horticulture among 

 the masses. To cause the villagers to interest themselves, 

 a system of local shows should be organized. I mean 

 by local shows that every town and village should have 

 its own horticultural society. Every village should be 

 able to support one show a year, while the towns could 

 have two, one in spring and the other in the fall. The 

 village shows should be held during the months of Au- 

 gust, September or October. In the village shows only 

 people belonging to the village should be allowed to 

 compete, but the town shows should be open to the vil- 

 lages. To set these shows on foot, a few of the most 

 prominent men of the town or village should meet to- 

 gether to discuss the subject and then canvass the town 

 or village for the necessary funds. It would, perhaps 

 be difficult at first to get the people to compete, but when 

 they see that every thing is fair and square, they soon 

 come forward. Nothing aids more to make these small 

 shows successful than the prompt payment of the prize 

 money. At all the shows leaflets could be distributed, 

 detailing in the plainest language the simple rules to be 

 observed in the cultivation of fruits and flowers, and 

 setting forth the varieties best suited to that particular 

 district. The expenses might be defrayed by the socie- 

 ties themselves, or a league might be formed having for 

 its object the encouragement of fruit growing among 

 cottagers and others. The horticultural press might 

 aid by offering prizes to its readers for the best speci- 



