76o THE ] 



take them to the florist's. I may get some plant in ex- 

 change that will gladden my eyes all winter, and that is 

 better than letting Jack Frost destroy them. After the 

 geraniums are cut down, I pull them up and store them 

 in the cellar, packing them in a large clothes basket with 

 earth around the roots. In February I plant them in 

 pots, and put them in a sunny cellar or garret window, 

 where they soon come out again and are thrifty plants. — 

 Sister Gracious. 



Signs for Choosing. — My neighbor, a business man^ 

 asked me to name a man to do small jobs for him abou 

 the house throughout the winter. He wanted seme one 

 he could rely on, and as the pay was sure and liberal, I 

 was interested in getting a good man for the place. I 

 knew of two jobbers and we went to see them. They 

 lived side by side in frame cottages with small yards in 

 front. In the first one the weeds were as high as the 

 fence ; not a blade of grass or flower could be seen ; the 

 windows were broken, and the steps were rickety. Even 

 the cat looked forlorn and miserable. " I do not want 

 the man that lives in that house," said my friend. In 

 the next house the path was clean to the front door. The 

 four o'clocks, balsams and asters made the little yard 

 bright; the steps were firm and newly painted; while 

 a fat, comfortable looking baby peered at us through the 

 gate. ' ' This is the man for me, " said my neighbor, and 

 he hired him on the spot, and both were benefitted by 

 the bargain. Said a book agent, "I am apt to get a 

 customer where I see flowers in the window, and, at 

 least, they don't shut the door in my face " A young 

 man chose his wife from seeing her carefully weed and 

 Avater her garden day after day, and after ten years of 

 married life, he said of her, " She is a good one." — Sis- 

 ter Gracious. 



Gardening for Women. — Gardening is one of the 

 things women can do, and do well. Men may have the 

 strength, but when it comes to that, women gain it, 

 too, by the out-door exercise; and their skill is 

 greater, while their patience, under the difficulties 

 sometimes incident to the work, is remarkable. It 

 takes experience and it takes intelligence to make a 

 success of the business, and women have the latter and 

 can acquire the former by thoroughly mastering every 

 detail of horticulture, or the more commonplace meth- 

 ods of vegetable culture. It has been truly said that no 

 lazy or light-minded woman will ever be tempted to un- 

 dertake gardening if she knows it. But no work is 

 sweeter or pays better— not in money so much as in 

 health, good spirits and contentment. 



"Women have wrought wonders in the culture of rare 

 flowers, and in spending many hours of each day in 

 the loving care and attention required at their hands by 

 these beautiful products of nature, they are well repaid 

 by the exquisite flowers produced, while the time thus 

 spent in wholesome exercise in pure air and healthy 

 sunshine does more in adding years to their lives than 

 the learned care of the best family physician. 



It is wonderful what a vast field of knowledge opens 



SA V. 



out to the woman who studies the nature of the lovelies^ 

 flowers she can grow, and takes an interest in the cul- 

 ture of the fruit upon the home-lot, and even spends 

 some time in finding out and raising, too, the most 

 profitable and best kinds of vegetables for the home 

 table. 



She need not lose her interest in the in-door matters, 

 but the garden will soon come to be a source of exquis- 

 its pleasure which is not to be foregone for any of the 

 usual temptations in shape of a new novel or the latest 

 in fancy work, over which so many of our American 

 women dawdle. I don't think that the daintiest woman 

 will care that her hands are growing larger, or browner, 

 when the red of wholesome health is creeping over the 

 rounded cheeks that had lost their color for so long. 

 And then the flowers that adorn not only the garden, 

 but fill the house with their fragrance, are a fairer 

 showing for their labor. 



Women have been most successful in fruit culture, 

 especially in that of the grape. They not only plant, 

 but prune them, with the skill that only experience 

 brings. They have also, many of them, become quite 

 skilled in budding and grafting, and the knowledge thus 

 attained has been the source of no small gain in many 

 cases. It enables many a woman to surround her 

 home with some of the choicest fruits and flowers that 

 would otherwise be out of her reach. How many have 

 waited and wished for the slip of a rare new rose, or 

 having it, knew too little to " make it grow." There is 

 no " luck " in another's knowledge just how to do it. 

 Their success is due to the knowledge which time and 

 experience have brought. 



Homes can be made so much brighter and better by 

 the wholesome contact with flowers. The children of 

 the family, too, will grow up loving them, and if the 

 mother is wise, she will instil in them her own love for 

 the beautiful things of nature. Teach them to plant 

 the seeds and set the plants, and see their delight over 

 the flowers they call their own. I think, as the years go 

 on, that there is an increase in the number of women 

 who are engaged in either flower or fruit culture, or in 

 the equally interesting matter of raising the very best 

 kinds of vegetables for market or table. It is looked 

 upon no longer as mere manual labor and unfit for the 

 fair hands of delicate women, but as a beautiful and in- 

 vigorating means of gaining a renewed lease of life, as 

 well as being a source of pleasure and profit at the same 

 time. It has come, too, to be an education, as we 

 study the life of flower, of plant, and of tree, and un- 

 derstandingly minister to each. 



A lady says ; " If I were to pick out days of my life 

 that have been most peculiarly worth living, they would 

 be those when I wrought among roses and raspberries 

 from dawn to sunset without stopping, save for meals. 

 Over these I can write 'Abiding satisfaction.'" — H. K., 

 Gt-ynianiown, Ohio. 



Some Needs of Gardening. — As trucking means 

 trafficking, we deem truck-farming an improper term. 



