Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 121, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 May 1914 — TIME TO THINK OF BEAUTY Department of Agriculture Gives Good Advice on a Most Important Subject. [ARTICLE]

TIME TO THINK OF BEAUTY

Department of Agriculture Gives Good Advice on a Most Important Subject.

The appropriate use of trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants In the adornment of city, village, suburban, or country home grounds gives a charm and beauty which are interesting and pleasipg to the passer-by as well as to the occupant of the home, says the U. 8. department of agriculture. Plants are a means of expressing * restfulness and beauty. Their gradually changing aspect with the succession of the seasons heightens their pleasing effect and relieves monotony. The changes which occur in the life of vegetation during the year have caused man to speak of the stages .of human existence as the "spring,” "summer," and "autumn” of life. The leaf, the branch, and the flower, as well as the general form of the plant, manifest a grace and beauty which art endeavors to copy. While art cannot take the place of nature, it nevertheless plays an Important part in teaching us to see and appreciate the beauties of nature. Man should first provide for his necessities, then for comforts, and finally for pleasures. In a new country such as ours, the expenditure of time and means for the adornment of grounds has naturally received too little attention. The people have been necessarily concerned with acquiring lands and buildings. But a stage of development has now been reached when Americans should give more attention to the embellishment of their home grounds.