Success With Small Fruits | Page 9

sisters of mercy of the one Catholic church of
love and kindness carry the fragrant emblems of an Eden that was lost,
but may be regained even by those who have wandered farthest from its
beauty and purity. Men and women, with faces seemingly hardened and
grown rigid under the impress of vice, that but too correctly reveal the
coarse and brutal nature within, often become wistful and tender over
some simple flower or luscious fruit that recalls earlier and happier
days. These are gifts which offend no prejudices, and inevitably
suggest that which is good, sweet, wholesome and pure. For a moment,
at least, and perhaps forever, they may lead stained and debased
creatures to turn their faces heavenward. There are little suffering
children also in the hospitals; there are exiles from country homes and
country life in the city who have been swept down not by evil but the
dark tides of disaster, poverty, and disease, and to such it is a privilege
as well as a pleasure to send gifts that will tend to revive hope and
courage. That we may often avail ourselves of these gracious
opportunities of giving the equivalent of a "cup of cold water," we
should plant fruits and flowers in abundance.
One of the sad features of our time is the tendency of young people to
leave their country homes. And too often one does not need to look far
for the reason. Life at the farm-house sinks into deep ruts, and becomes
weary plodding. There are too many "one-ideaed" farmers and farms. It
is corn, potatoes, wheat, butter, or milk. The staple production absorbs
all thought and everything else is neglected. Nature demands that
young people should have variety, and furnishes it in abundance. The
stolid farmer too often ignores nature and the cravings of youth, and
insists on the heavy monotonous work of his specialty, early and late,
the year around, and then wonders why in his declining years there are
no strong young hands to lighten his toil. The boy who might have
lived a sturdy, healthful, independent life among his native hills is a
bleached and sallow youth measuring ribbons and calicoes behind a
city counter. The girl who might have been the mistress of a
tree-shadowed country house disappears under much darker shadows in
town. But for their early home life, so meagre and devoid of interest,

they might have breathed pure air all their days.
Not the least among the means of making a home attractive would be a
well-maintained fruit garden. The heart and the stomach have been
found nearer together by the metaphysicians than the physiologists, and
if the "house-mother," as the Germans say, beamed often at her
children over a great dish of berries flanked by a pitcher of unskimmed
milk, not only good blood and good feeling would be developed, but
something that the poets call "early ties."
There is one form of gambling or speculation that, within proper limits,
is entirely innocent and healthful--the raising of new seedling fruits and
the testing of new varieties. In these pursuits the elements of chance,
skill, and judgment enter so evenly that they are an unfailing source of
pleasurable excitement. The catalogues of plant, tree, and seed dealers
abound in novelties. The majority of them cannot endure the test of
being grown by the side of our well- known standard kinds, but now
and then an exceedingly valuable variety, remarkable for certain
qualities or peculiarly adapted to special localities and uses, is
developed. There is not only an unfailing pleasure in making these
discoveries, but often a large profit. If, three or four years ago, a
country boy had bought a dozen Sharpless strawberry plants, and
propagated from them, he might now obtain several hundred dollars
from their increased numbers. Time only can show whether this
novelty will become a standard variety, but at present the plants are in
great demand.
The young people of a country home may become deeply interested in
originating new seedlings. A thousand strawberry seeds will produce a
thousand new kinds, and, although the prospects are that none of them
will equal those now in favor, something very fine and superior may be
obtained. Be this as it may, if these simple natural interests prevent
boys and girls from being drawn into the maelstrom of city life until
character is formed, each plant will have a value beyond silver or gold.
One of the supreme rewards of human endeavor is a true home, and
surely it is as stupid as it is wrong to neglect some of the simplest and
yet most effectual means of securing this crown of earthly life. A home

is the product of many and varied causes, but I have yet to see the man
who will