THE BENEFIT TO BE DERIVED FROM FLOWERS 
is apparent in all civilized communities, and the higher the state of 
civilization the more flowers are appreciated. There is no doubt but that 
people are made better and happier through their influence. In this 
country there are about six thousand commercial florists, besides hundreds 
of private individuals who have greenhouses and conservatories connected 
with their own places. 
If you would have children love their homes and grow up to be good 
and virtuous, give them a little garden of their own where they can plant 
the seeds, watch the development, and dispose of the product in their own 
way. If they live in the country, teach them to ramble through the fields 
and woods for the first wild flowers; teach them enough of botany so that 
they can tell the common trees and shrubs by their correct names and you 
have laid the foundation for their future health and happiness. 
Many a woman has been cheered and encouraged by her few pet flowers in 
the house; or better still, if she has a garden, be it ever so small, where she 
can breathe the pure air and feel the warm sunshine, will be so strengthened 
and refreshed by the few minutes in her garden that she will take up the 
burden of life again with renewed courage and determination. There come 
no wry faces and cross words from the flowers, but only smiles and 
encouragements. It sometimes appears as though the wild roses by the 
roadside turned their faces toward one as he passes along. 
The business man, returning from his office or his store, harassed and 
perplexed by daily work, or the rise and fall of stocks, is soothed and 
comforted by spending a few minutes in his garden; or, if he will “rise with 
the voice of the bird” and breathe the pure, fresh air of morning, will be 
strengthened for his day’s work with kind Nature’s stimulant. . 
The writer of this has long passed the allotted age of man. He was 
for many years in early life a confirmed invalid, and in later years, when 
seriously ill, has revived and recovered, largely through the influence of his 
flowers and his pleasant business. He has been a nurseryman nearly all his 
life, engaged in raising fruits and flowers, and has sent them broadcast all 
over the land. If people have been made happier and better by these fruits 
and flowers, he feels that he has not lived wholly in vain. He fully 
believes with Dr. Edward Everett Hale that “ nothing is so conducive to a 
long and happy life as to keep in close touch with nature.” 
