Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-06-05
For the VERMONT FARMER
I'VE LOVE THEM"

les, we love the trees our own hands
have planted, the vines we have cultivated
and trained over our doorways, aud over the
trellis our own hands have constructed,
the flowers which make our dooryards shine
with beauty.
This, because it is a law of our being
that We become attached to those objects up
on which we have bestowed labor, and on
which we have expended care. 1t is upon
the cultivation of such as these we design
to write. Everybody likes flowers. Their
cultivation is an evidence of high civillza-
ton. They are a sort of floral thermometer
indicating in a considerable degree the in-
telligence aud refinement Of the people, and
their indications are as significant as the ey-
licences offered by architecture, painting, po-
etry, or any Of the sciences.
The care and growth of flowers elevate
and purify the mind and give the dusty
walks CT life pleasant border. Men of
wealth can employ an artist and thus rapid.
ly and at once create world of beauty
around them, but every farmer or gardener
should Le his own artist, and though returns
come in slowly, yet certainly as satisfactory.
There is love of the beautiful created
in every man needing only to be cultivated
to become to him source Of pleasure. Not
every man can paint but every one can
make picture, and where can a more
beautiful picture be found than q well ar.
ranged, well-cultivated garden2 In our
cultivation Of flowers we would urge a
pleasant and agreeable mingliug of the USE
ful with the beautiful; an adding of orna-
ment to culture, to mingle with those plants
which are sweet to the taste, and nourishing
to the body, such as are pleasant to the
sight and as shed an agreeable fragrance
around US.
A cultivator can make a garden any,
where. Among rocks, upon the steep de-
clivity he can form a terrace; by the side of
the running brook, around the pond, along
the borders of the marsh, he can make the
flowers spring up. lie can form beds of rich
vegetables with borders of roses, fruits and
verbenas he can arrange them. in straight
or curved lines, can form them with squares
or paralelOgrams, into circles or elipses,
into triangles or hexagons, or into any form
that suits his fancy or the nature of his
ground.
The farmer needs recreation; let him seek
it in his garden. Time thus spent will make
him and his family more fond of home,
keep him from temptation, and perhaps from
moral ruin. Such employment surrounds
our home with associations of beauty, with
memories of pleasure and joy which will
never forsake us till we lie down to our final
repose in the bosom of the earth. You,
readers, who are yet young and just start
ing, please give this subject a careful
thought. With that which you grow To
sustain your physical nature mingle that
which will keep alive your mental faculties,
for the love Of flowers is a union of affec-
tion, good taste and natural piety. They
serve to hide blemishes, and make our abodes
a thousand times more pleasant. They are
evidences Of tidinesss, Of thrift and comfort
and Of better farming generally. They are
your steady, impartial friends. They glad
den the sick room. They cheer the weary
traveller; the bright golden.rod mods as hO
passes, the modest aster or the queen daisy
peep from thicker foliage. The ancients
adorned the altars of their gods with Aow-
ers.
Again we say, let us give this subject
more attention. 1t decidedly affects the
character of our farms and homes. Instead
Of unincosed dOoryards where stray cattle
and gabbling geese are at home, aud old
wheels and sprawling wood piles skirt the
premises 10 dire confusion, while huge dogs,
grim as Cerberus, guard the doubtful way to
the door, there will be white palings, in.
closing spot sacred to "fruits and blossoms
that blush in social sweetness on the self.
same bough." NJ.
Waits RiUer, Mag 20.