File:Peonies for pleasure (16209793339).jpg

Who am I that I should have this arraxj? An old man
laid aside from professional work, broken in health. I et 1
secured a somber piece of weedy ground and planted those
unsightly bulbs gathered from various portions of Europe
and America, and so secured this harvest of delight. Why
should I be so highly honored and treated like a God?
Thousands of the most gorgeous flowers are putting them-
selves on dress parade. They vie with each other to see
which can make the most alluring and winsome appearance.
Such a trousseau no bride ever wore.
Whence came all these tints of -woven splendor which
go into this rich carpet spread out before me? I ou have
read of that Oriental Carpet of Gems, the wonder of the
■world, where rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, xjea,
all the unfading flowers of earth's under garden, are min-
gled in a fabric which shimmers, flashes and blazes in the
sunshine. But that gem of gems cost millions. It is made
oi dead flowers which cannot breathe and which give out
no fragrance. Mij garden of gems is alive. Its beatity
does not last as long, but it is mine, and while it lasts I am
a millionaire. All of these acres are mij bouquet.
Whence did they derive these rich perfumes? The
mingling of the rose and the violet, the pond lily and the
heliotrope, the hinting of cinnamon and the spices. Up
from the masses there rise viewless clouds of incense which
float above and wander away in the distant air, then sweep
earthward so that you wade in billows of aroma.
Whence came all this rich coloring- — as if the tints had
been taken from the sunsets and the mantles from the stars,
all -woven by deft and unseen fingers into these forms of
entrancing loveliness?
Among the crimsons -what splendid flowers. There is
stately Prince Imperial, further on is La Sublime and Louis
Van Houtte and the showy Ville de Nancij.
Among the pinks the beautiful L'Esperance, the radiant
Madame Geissler, Livingstone and a host of others.
There is Jeanne d'Arc with petals of gold and a center
of snowy -white, emblem of the fair soul of the war maiden,
and in the heart of the flower, drops of blood as if the iron
had entered her soul; and here is her daughter Golden
Harvest; stately Festiva Maxima rises like a crueen in her
snowy whiteness; Monsieur Dupont is a sturdy massive
white with carmine sprinkled in the center; Couronne d'Or
with heart of gold is one of the latest.
Among the somewhat variegated xjou find Faust, one of
the most floriferous, overwhelmed with floods of bloom each
\jear. But we cannot go into details when we have two
hundred varieties all striving for recognition.
Reverently I stand in this imperial presence. Instinctively
I saij, "Mow precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God;
how great is the sum of them." All these radiant forms are
the revelation of the love of the Father, interpreters of His
thoughts, prophets of our own resplendent future.
My garden teaches this lesson. How much the Great
Florist would do for His children if they would only give
Him a chance. This was His opportunity and He took it.
His oldest daughter, good mother nature, was on hand to
work with me and evolve the plans of God. How much
she would do for us if we -would only help. AA/Tiat possi-
bilities all around us. Above us Divine ideals waiting for
a chance to alight and glorify the earth.
Come around to these rows. These plants are mine. I
grew them from seed. See this lovely one with soft vel-
vety petals of pink; see that one of purest white; look at
that one robed in dazzling red with heart of gold. How
happy and cheerful they look. Thetj are mine. My eyes
first saw them. * * And back in the unknown are
other masses of undiscovered loveliness waiting your beck
and mine. Sometimes it seems as if they -would break open
the gates and flood us with a glory yet unseen.
Wlio would live in desolation when he might live in
fairyland, where Nature and all her unseen forces will work
daij and night to lavish on him her choicest treasures?
Plant in masses. Match God's great out-of-doors with
abundance. Don't be stingy when a little will bring so
much. Open all the gates and let the -waiting beauty of
an earthly elysium settle around xjou.
If ijou have only a small city lot, beautify that and give
a kind Providence a chance to smile on you through the
countenances of vjour flowers.
Tk.
ilic
itlic
Lien again irom tlie same autlior:
Get Peonies, the most gorgeous flowers on earth; plant
in masses, and have a splendid carpet of loveliness fit for
the touch of angels' feet. Don't be stingy with the front
xjard. A fine house in a neglected yard is like a one
thousand dollar picture in a ten cent frame. Plant abund-
ance and do not depend on two or three flowers to glorify a
whole lawn. Beauty is wealth; raise a crop of it and be
rich. Let us get a combination and fix up the home so it
will be a blessed memory in after years. The home is not
a kennel, a stable, a sty, or a barn. It is a dwelling place
for immortals, who stand on the borders of the eternal
beaxity, -where the stars are planted in the vast flower
gardens of the Father.
If xjou have beautiful grounds, adorn them with an abund-
ance of flowers. You will have your children associated
with the most charming companions, and they will have
their influence. Your boys -will not be boors, but gentle-
men; xjour girls will have lives moulded bvj the pure and
the beautiful.
AAfhat a soul hunger often comes to the wife and mother!
Too often the front yard is neglected. Perhaps it is a hog
pasture, or a hospital for disabled machinery. The farmer's
wife needs an attractive home. She should have her
toilet room as well as her city sister. Wlien you have 160
acres can you not spare her
one, and enjoy it yourself
■with her, so that from
early spring till the hard
frosts of autumn ijou can
be welcomed by a pro-
cession of beauty?
The farmer is king by
divine right. His domain
reaches from the center of
ti-
le earth.
tk
to the stars.
He gets his title from man
and from the Creator.
Taking such a gift, he is
under the highest obliga-
tion to make the most of
it, and not to rob it, but to
keep it at its best.
The Farm Beautiful
should be a charming pic-
ture in Natures great frame
work all around it.
Page Seven
'O y here I see! Close to me nods"