PRACTICAL PAPERS—HORTICULTURE. 
295 
er treatment for the past ten years, have given us lines and 
groves of trees that we would not sell for one thousand dollars. 
Are these on our farms, or are they still to be grown? One 
hundred evergreens, costing ten years ago fifteen to twenty- 
five dollars would now average fifteen feet high, making our 
homes models of beauty, and protecting them from many a 
wintry blast. Are the evergreens there, or do the piercing 
winds constantly remind us of their absence ? Many smaller 
items of similar import will readily suggest themselves to your 
minds. Some of these things are doubtless lacking. And 
now comes the question, shall we still drift on in the old way^ 
or shall we make an earnest effort to improve? The presump¬ 
tion is that all are anxious for improvement, therefore let us 
consider what are our best means of progress. 
These horticultural matters need thought and study to make 
them successful. The leisure of winter is a good time to study 
and plan, and that these plans may not be forgotten, it is well 
to make notes of them, that shall bring them seasonably to 
mind. Much valuable aid may be gained Irom the excellent 
horticultural and agricultural papers now so abundant, and 
much by observing the work and progress of others. We also 
have books treating very fully upon flower, fruit and tree cul¬ 
ture; but with all these, great and real progress can only be 
made by our own practical experiments. These, aided by read¬ 
ing and observation, must be our teachers ; and even our fail¬ 
ures may teach valuable lessons. Agricultural subjects will of 
course be first in importance with the farmer, and the sugges¬ 
tions I may make will be such as I feel sure will be no hind¬ 
rance to other interests, and if carried out will yield rich com¬ 
pensation pecuniarily, and add largely to the comfort and hap¬ 
piness of farm life. 
The things to be planted, and their arrangement, must neces¬ 
sarily be somewhat different on each farm, and it will greatly 
aid in deciding just what we would like to have, just what we 
can afford to have, and just where to place each particular 
tree and plant, if we make a full and complete map of the 
