IS VILLAGE LIFE WORTH PRESERVING? 



341 



Seine, yet to others it is truly the center of civih- 

 zation, refinement and art. 



Great minds and great people have in all ages de- 

 clared their preference for a home in the country 

 and proved it by living there, yet they created the 

 places in a sense, and their surroundings. When 

 they were gone 

 the place lost 

 their prestige. 

 It is true that 

 the ideas popu- 

 larly held about 

 the country are 

 often so erron- 

 eous as to amount 

 to superstitions ; 

 on the other 

 side, some city 

 dwellers are so 

 unable to adapt 

 t h e m s elves to 

 country c o n d i - 

 tions that their 

 opinions are sim- 

 ply a compound 

 of prejudices. Be- 

 cause a man is 

 troubled with 

 seasickness it 

 does not follow 

 that the ocean is 

 not grand, health- 

 ful, beautiful and 

 most enjoyable 

 to thousands of 

 others. Both 

 city and country 

 are healthful or 

 not, according to 

 ci r c u m stances. 

 Disease and un- 

 health trouble 

 them both. An 

 invalid depend- 

 ent upon the so- 

 ciety of visitors 

 will prefer the 

 city, otherwise 

 the country i s 

 first choice. City 

 markets are 

 cheaper and more varied as a rule ; more things 

 are to be had, but how many of us can get them ? 

 Articles find their way when there is a market for 



CrOCOSMIA AUREA IMPERIALIS 



them. Hot-house grapes are to be had the year 

 Tound in New York, yet we could not always have 

 them if we were next door to the fruit dealer. We 

 can generally buy fruit and vegetables cheaper in 

 the city than country, and at less cost than we can 

 raise them, but not as good if we know how to do 



it. If we take 

 time to raise 

 them that could 

 be more profita- 

 bly spent in other 

 ways, they are a 

 loss to us, but a 

 little garden is 

 the most pleas- 

 ant and profita- 

 ble means of us- 

 ing otherwise un- 

 emploj'ed time 

 that many of us 

 know, and flowers 

 of our own rais- 

 ing are sweeter 

 to us than those 

 bought of a 

 Broadway florist. 



I n European 

 countries, where 

 the laborers do 

 not own the land, 

 they are cluster- 

 ed together i n 

 villages and en- 

 joy the society 

 and recreation of 

 each other's com- 

 pany, but their 

 dancing and vil- 

 lage festivities 

 are abhorrent to 

 the religious 

 ideas and preju- 

 dices of a large 

 part of our peo- 

 ple, and even the 

 wine-drink ing 

 habits of the in- 

 habitants of 

 grape-growing 

 countries come in 

 for an equal 



share of condemnation with the intemperance of a 

 New England or Southern village. Isolation and 

 imprisonment are bad, whether enforced by iron 



