he old gentleman,
with a disgusted look on his face. "I wouldn't have it in _my_ yard.
We've got weeds enough 'thout settin' 'em out". He went away with a
look on his face that made me think he felt as if he had been imposed
on.

While it is true, in many instances, that "familiarity breeds contempt,"
it is equally true that familiarity without prejudice would open our
eyes to the fact that beauty exists all about us--in lane, and field,
and roadside, and forest. We are not aware of the prevalence of it until
we go in search of it. When we go out with "the seeing eye," we find it
everywhere. Nothing is so plentiful or so cheap as beauty to the lover
of the beautiful. It may be had for the taking. We have fallen into the
habit of looking to foreign lands for plants with which to beautify our
gardens, thus neglecting and ignoring the beauty at our own doors. A
shrub with a long name and a good big price attached will win our
admiration, while a native plant, vastly more desirable, will be wholly
overlooked. It ought not to be so. "Home first, the world afterward" is
the motto of many patriotic men and women, and it ought to be the motto
of the lover of the beautiful in plant-life when he is seeking for
something with which to ornament the home-grounds.

Many persons have, however, become greatly interested in our native
plants, and it is apparent that the interest of the masses in whatever
is beautiful is steadily increasing. The people are being educated to a
keener appreciation of beauty than ever before. It is encouraging to
know that a demand has sprung up for shrubs and plants of American
origin--a demand so large, already, that many nurserymen advertise
collections of native plants, some of them quite extensive. Appreciation
of true beauty is putting a value into things which have heretofore had
no idea of value connected with them.

The dominant idea I had in mind, when this chapter was planned, was that
of enlisting the boys and girls in the work of making a collection of
native plants. I would have them make what might properly be called a
wild garden. But I would not confine the undertaking to the boys and
girls. I would interest the man or woman who has a home to make
beautiful in the material that is to be found on every hand, waiting to
be utilized. Such a garden can be made of great educational value, and,
at the same time, quite as ornamental as the garden that contains
nothing but foreign plants. It can