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of nil beauty , which robs the flower and
starves the tree. Beautiful things must
have attention. If you cannot spare the
$100 , begin with $10 , and care for what
you have. Many of these choice things ,
the whole family of syringas and honey
suckles grow from cuttings , so with
small beginnings you can adorn your
yard.
There is a Klondike in many a man's
brain , if he can only get it out. I was
over 85 years old before my attention
was called to horticulture. Since then
it has had a wonderful fascination. It
is a science which introduces you into
the best society. I know a man who is
awkward , poorly dressed , and ungram-
maticnl , yet he is looked upon as a king
by wealthy ladies and gentlemen of
Boston , and he is listened to like an
oracle. I happen to bo a member of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society.
It is now worth a million of dollars.
The flower shows are marvels. One
day is given to rhododendrons and
azalias. These we must almost entirely
dispense with. Then come the peonies ,
and the large hall is a palace of delight.
Then comes rose day , a day of freshness
and sweetness and beauty. Last year I
wandered through that scone of enchant
ment , and took the names of some of
the very choicest , and found when I
got back to Nebraska that many of
them were our favorites here.
What charming times we might have
if our society would do its best 1 Secure
the most beautiful things , and give
them the best cultivation.
Some of us who were early settlers
have had a hard time in the conquest of
this new laud. We had to battle with
the hopper , the blizzard , the sirocco ,
and the drouth. It was hard , constant
and unremitting toil , until we have
grown grey under it. But we have been
victors , and the time has come for
change. The sod house has given way
to the comfortable home. Ought you
not to reward yourselves for your
fidelity , and your wives for their hope
and toil and patience ? In our dreary
land with its trying climate , let us see
if we cannot discover a new and beauti
ful country , where , amid flowers and
under graceful trees , we can wait in a
land elysian "till the shadows are a lit
tle longer grown. " We can make a fair
Beulah land as we wait this side the
river. Every man can discover some
spot of beauty on his own homestead.
Let the farmers vie with each other in
improvements. Then a visit from farm
to farm will be more than the eternal
monotony of going from some southeast
quarter to a northeast quarter. I prac
tice what I preach. Across the way
from my home , a year ago , were two of
the weediest lots in York. Now they
ore beautiful with 15,000 trees and flow
ering shrubs.
Horticulture opens before us a charm
ing world. It has no looked gates ; we
I " ' ' -fa I k
I - r i , 1 iLt \
can all enter in. Horticulturists are a
cordial fraternity. In the East , where I
nave spent some years , I received cor
dial welcome. I was often invited to
address meetings , and was ticketed to
banquets. You will find here new
sources of enjoyment , and hosts of smil
ing flowers and nodding trees will bid
you royal welcome. When people grow
grey they ought not to grow old. They
cannot endure the hard toil of former
years. Leave that to someone else. Get
a little pleasure out of the sunset of life.
Let it glow with beauty , as the clouds
glow at the close of day. Teach the
young to love the country and to love
the home. Too many men treat their
wives and children as though they had
no rights which the hog and steer are
bound to respect. A place may be a
paradise for the hog and a sheol for a
liome.
ConclltloiiH of SurrcRA With the Flower
Giirdon.
If you plant ever so fine a lot of shrubs
under a lot of cottonwoods , you will
fail. Never a meaner trust or a more
grasping monopoly among men than
you will find in a row of cottonwoods.
They want the earth , and are bound to
have all of it they can reach. If one of
them is fifty feet high it will send out its
roots as foragers fifty to one * hundred
feet. It is a ravenous tree , and robs
everything near it. It is good in its
place , but its place is not near a flower
garden. Yet flowers must have shelter.
A red * edar hedge is the cheapest and
best thing. An evergreen requires only
one-tenth as much water as an elm or
cottonwood of the same size. It is not
a gigantic robber , and it makes a good
shelter both for summer and winter.
Do not plant too near your hedge.
Give that plenty of room. Your plants
need water. You may not have a well
near where you want your flowers.
Frank Jones , of York , has a neat cart ,
with a barrel winch holds about fifty
gallons , which he sells for $6.00. A boyer
or woman can wheel it , if not too full.
Put in a faucet and attach a piece of
hose , and you are all right.
Put your trees and shrubs in a de
pression. If yon have a choice tree , and
you want to be sure , give it a full bar
rel of water. Do this in the fall before
it goes into winter , and perhaps four
times in the summer. I have known
people to water their trees all summer ,
and never get a drop down at their
roots. They were planted on a ridge
instead of in a furrow , the ground was
kept hard and never cultivated. Al
ways stir the ground after watering ;
that retains the moisture. If you have
a hose , remember the hoe , it is worth
more than the hose. Let that be your
main dependence. During many of our
summers , good cultivation after every
shower will retain the moisture without
extra watering. If you want the best
success for the more delicate flowers
; lmt are too sensitive for our climate
; hen build
A ruth Screen
to shut out half the sun and half the
wind. You can build this with little
expense. Have it high enough so you
can walk under it , and you will be sur
prised at the difference. The choicest
flowers cannot stand the whippings and
scorchiugs of the open ground.
People often buy perpetual blooming
roses , and think they have been cheated
because they do not bloom here in Sep
tember. The same kinds do in the Enst ,
in a softer , moister climate , but they
cannot bloom in the open hero , in such
weather as ushered in this mouth.
I have made this screen shelter a care
ful study for years , and introduced it
into Oklahoma , which has the draw
backs and adversities of Nebraska mul
tiplied by two. With a little cnre and
watchfulness we can have the best at
our own home.
The Cost.
To secure a choice flower garden ,
well sheltered , you will first need an
evergreen hedge. A plat of ground ,
seven rods square , will give you a little
over one-fourth of an acre. Cedars
suitable for planting can be had for $5
to $10 per hundred. If you can wait
long enough you can get 500 little ones
for $5.00 , and let them grow a year or
two. But unless you are very careful ,
you had better get those all ready.
They should be planted two feet apart ,
and when the branches touch , dig out
the alternate ones and make an ever
green barn of them , as you may have
seen in another article. Four feet apart
is the right distance for a long-lived
healthy hedge. Inside your enclosure ,
while your hedge is growing , plant
your peonies , phloxes , columbines and
hardier shrubs , and increase the num
ber as you can. Put your lath screen
in the middle. Have a seat in it , where
you can be in company with your
treasures.
If you begin at the bottom , $25 will
give you a good start. Only let your
motto be "constant care and cultiva
tion. " Hunt out a weed as you would
a deadly enemy. Your floral treasures
will give you more comfort than the
costliest tapestries and adornments.
Build a $1,000 house in a ten-acre lot ,
and adorn this with skill and care. Let
your neighbor build a $10,000 house ,
with no outside adornment , and in ten
years your place will bo worth the
most. From the moment you move in ,
your place grows better , and his les
sens in value.
0. S. HARIUSON ,
President Nebraska Forestry Associa
tion.
Letters that are warmly sealed are
often coldly opened. Jean Paul.
