Page:Frank Owen - Rare Earth, 1931.djvu/109

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Rare Earth

superb. Willow flowers and peonies, chrysanthemum and wistaria spell enchantment to them.

There is scarcely a foot of space in China near the big cities that is not cultivated. Frequently three or four crops a year are harvested.

The Englishman considers his house incomplete if it is not framed by a garden. Holland derives vast revenues from horticulture and her bulbs are known and used the world over. Perhaps it is because the Hollanders live so close to flowers that their temperaments are so even and their country so seldom plagued with wars.

Throughout Italy grape-festivals are held at harvest time and free pure unadulterated wine flows from fountains in the public squares. All through the streets of Paris venders of flowers, particularly violets, do a thriving trade, for even in this vast city of pleasure and love, almost everyone has time to pause to buy a flower.

And so it is the world over. Unconsciously

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