MAKE HOME BEAUTIFUL. 
There never was a truer saying, than Victor Hugo’s 
in Les Miserables: “The beautiful is as useful as the 
useful, perhaps more so.” The beautiful is a powerful 
influence for good; it teaches the most impressive les¬ 
sons in a language that all can understand, the lan¬ 
guage of the human soul. Its lessons are so plain and 
forcible, at tbe same time so charged with feeling , that 
all, from the least to the greatest, are affected by them. 
Beauty is constantly giving, and constantly growing 
richer: it is unselfish, yet it demands attention from 
every one—only to make them better. 
Now, in the depth of winter, when the most impor¬ 
tant part of gardening is being performed—plans, pur¬ 
poses and resolutions,—let us first aim to make our 
homes attractive, and thereby develop a love for the 
beautiful in every one who has the opportunity of see¬ 
ing the work we have done. There seems to be a gen¬ 
eral feeling that there is no beauty in a vegetable gar¬ 
den; that it is not in harmony with ornamental grounds, 
and must, therefore, be removed from them as far as 
possible, lest the sight of it mar our enjoyment of their 
beauty. Now it is not only a necessity, but it may be 
an ornament, as much as the lawn or the flower-garden. 
What though the arrangement be rectangular, while 
curves predominate in the other grounds? the two are 
not necessarily at variance ; the effect of each may be 
much heightened by the contrast which the other pre¬ 
sents. The botanist or other true lover of plants finds 
an equal, if not a greater, amount of beauty in the veg¬ 
etable than in the flower garden. And why not ? Is 
there anything more beautiful than large clusters of 
well-ripened tomatoes, on properly trained vines ? As 
a vine, are there any more beautiful than the water¬ 
melon, a vine that would certainly be classed with the 
ornamental ones, if it did not bear its delicious fruits? 
Why give the gourds that bear useless fruit a place on 
the trellis, and despise those that bear edible fruits? 
Is there not as much beauty in the edible pea, as there 
is in those grown exclusively for their flowers? Are 
not the flowers of the Martynia, whose pods we grow 
for pickling purposes, just as beautiful as those of the 
varieties which we grow for the sake of their flowers 
only? Why should we give one form of Hibiscus a 
prominent place in the ornamental garden, and regard 
it as beautiful, and look with scorn on another form, 
the Okra, because it is a useful plant ? 
All economic plants should have the same care and 
attention, as those that are grown for their beauty only, 
they are equally beautiful, besides having that supreme 
virtue, usefulness. We once saw at a social gathering 
a lady of rare culture, taste and refinement, with an 
elegant dress ornamented with potato blossoms, which 
were the admiration of all present. When asked what 
they were, she honestly said they were the blossoms of 
the Solanum tuberosum, a Peruvian plant, and no one 
knew them. She wore the flowers because they were 
truly beautiful, without the slightest regard to their 
humble position in the garden. Let us so arrange our 
gardens that the useful and the ornamental will be so 
happily blended, that tbe useful will be ornamental, 
and the ornamental, useful. Let them both be equally 
well cared for, and they will be equally attractive. 
Beauty should be the distinguishing feature of eveiy 
homestead, its aim and spirit, its warp, into which may 
be filled the woof of sundry conveniences and comforts. 
But tbis is not the practice of the world in general, for 
with it economy begins by dispensing with beauty. 
Economy being necessary ps well as commendable, 
it is much practiced ; and too often it is used as a 
catch-word by heads of families, as an excuse for deny¬ 
ing their families something which is not attractive to 
themselves, while they substitute something more to 
their tastes. 
The economy which feeds the body well, at the ex¬ 
pense of starving the mind, is wretchedly short-sighted. 
It is this economy that builds mansions indicative of 
wealth and power, without furnishing with the endear¬ 
ments of home-culture and refinement. This economy 
has gaudy flowers on the lawn as an external evidence 
of wealth, but none of them ever find their way into 
the sick-room. 
We commenced our writing of this article to show 
the stimulating effect for good the cultivation of 
flowers and plants have on others, and have wandered 
far from our subject. We return to it now by a quota¬ 
tion from Country Life, which is a true expression of 
our own thoughts. The writer in referring to the cul¬ 
tivation of vegetables and flowers in the same grounds, 
says: “ Let me tell you how the two things are con¬ 
nected in my mind. I have often seen a small house in 
a dusty street with a bit of a garden in front; over its 
windows and doors pretty vines climbed; bright Roses, 
Marigolds and Hollyhocks lighted up the dark, sad 
cloud of poverty that hung about the place. Though 
they were of no economical value as food, drink or 
clothing, they gladdened the minds of the laborers who 
passed to and from their work morning and night. 
These men and women, too closely pressed by want to 
do more than scrape together the wherewithal to keep 
body and soul together, yet find a moment to stop and 
enjoy the color and fragrance, which are to them the 
best proof of a God who watches over all his creatures. 
Seeing the beautiful things, they sigh for time and 
space to cultivate the same, and thus a spot is kept 
warm and green in the corner of their hearts, ready at 
the proper time to give liberal foothold and nourish¬ 
ment to any seeds of goodness and nobleness which 
may be dropped there. The tendency of the life of the 
poor is to materialism; it is hard to persuade them that 
there is any object more important than providing for 
the body. Tied down in the din of machinery; unable 
to go out into the God-made country where the truth 
might come freely to them; seeing their employers and 
companions seeking those things only which bring 
money—how can they believe what they hear at Bible 
readings, that these things so greedily sought after are 
of no real value? But when they see time and labor 
spent to gro,w flowers, merely because they are beauti¬ 
ful, they perceive dimly there is something precious 
beside money and tbe things it buys: and the throb of 
