Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1888-12-01
THIN OUT, TRANSPLANT.
Woman's Work in Life Made Easier BY
Applying the Principles of Horticulture.

We have oil ScoH y-eo'oAS" WV" o'~'s-
logues with their pictures Of impossible fruits and
flowers They come into our homes in the dull
DAYS of February, with Whit of spring air and .
promise of summer frultage However diverse
may be their style, however varied the rules for
cultivation of fruit, or flower, or vegetable, one
direction always meets our eyes: 'Sow the seed IN
carefully prepared bed and when the plants are
two or three inches high, boldly thin them out.
This process Of thinning, with the kindred one of
pruning, is familiar to all who depend upon the soil
for use or beauty, and may serve as an object les
son from which to draw few principles that may
be of use to the mothers and home makers Of our
country.
THE PROBLEM.
We find ourselves in the midst of surroundings,
often not of our own choosing, and which cannot
be changed by any act of ours; with heavy bur-
dens pressing upon us; with desirable pleasures
apparently out of reach. We find ourselves with
a twofold nature, body and spirit, each with its
needs and laws of growth; each with its POSSIBLE
ties. We find ourselves also, not standing alone,
but members of families, neighborhoods, commu-
mites, churches each relation bringing its duties
and responsibilities. We see, too, that nature,
though prodigal, makes no distinctions She gives
clouds and desolating storms as well as sunshine
and fruitful showers. She sends fruits and grains,
but also weeds and noxous insects into our fields.
She sends fresh air and sunlight into our houses,
but also dust and decay. She endows our bodies
sometimes with strength and beauty, but often with
deformity and fraity. In the spiritual world also
her gifts are mingled good and ILL., In our hearts
and minds find habits of thought, peculiarities,
of mental vision, biased dispositions, irritable tenn
pers, and in our husbands, children and servants
the same difficulties to contend with.
How with all these adverse surroundings
make our lives worth living how can we out Of all
these elements create home of comfort and beauty?
This is the problem that confronts every woman
who is the head of households problem that
must be solved unless we are willing to accept de-
feat and own our lives failure. For its solution
let us apply the principles of our horticultural
lessons
Look at your garden on an April day. The
bright green lines across its surface delight your
eye. Leave the young plants to struggle with each
other for room and sunlight, and few misshapen
and stunted growths will be your sole harvest
But if you thin them out until each root has its
needed space. and can stretch its fibers and send
up its leaves to the sunlight, the heapng measures
of well-formed products will reward your sacrifice
But this thinning is no haphazard, blind process
The gardener knows the nature of his plants, some
requiring more room than others; he uses discrim-
nation in selection he thns his rows systematic
ally, and sacrifices the lower to the higher; the
rampant growth is checked that it may bear more
fruit.
NECESSARY THINNING OUT.
Thin out your work. Our first business is and
always must be with the physical nature. Food,
clothing and shelter are the great wants of our
families, and the daily recurring care of providing
these is to many of us a burden so heavy as to-
leave neither strength nor time for anything else.
To thin out this necessary work, first have all the
help you can afford, and when you have secured
that have little more. II there are extra hands
in the harvest field, provide extra hands in the
kitchen to wait and serve. know we often con-
graduate ourselves on having dragged through