Wednesday, November 20, 2013

There is No Excellence Without Labor

I came across an abbreviated quote by Bailey about excellence. However, you need the full quote for the full meaning. Here it is and keep your dreams alive!

There is no excellence without labor.One cannot dream himself into either usefulness or happiness. Every person needs the dream, if he is to be sensitive to his place in the world and if he would really accomplish; but the result comes only through good application. -L.H. Bailey, October 1911

Monday, May 27, 2013

All Children are Born to the Natural Sky

We know it is not right that any family should be doomed to the occupancy of a very few dreary rooms and deathly closets in the depths of great cities, seeing that all children are born to the natural sky and to the wind and to the earth. We do not yet see the way to allow them to have what is naturally theirs, but we shall learn how. - L.H. Bailey, The Holy Earth


Thursday, April 25, 2013

L.H. Bailey on Herbs


An Herb is a plant which dies to the ground each year. It may be annual, as bean, candytuft, pigweed; biennial, as mullein, parsnip; perennial, as burdock, foxglove, rhubarb. To the gardener, however, the word Herb is ordinarily synonymous with herbaceous perennial; and he usually has in mind those particular perennial Herbs which are grown for ornament, and which remain where they are planted. Goldenrods, bleeding heart, sweet William, hollyhock, daffodils are examples. To many persons, however, the word Herb is synonymous with Sweet Herb, and it suggests sage and tansy.
    Herbs have two kinds of values, —their intrinsic merits as individual plants, and their value in the composition or the mass. It is usually possible to secure both these values at one and the same time. In fact, the individual beauty of Herbs is enhanced rather than diminished by exercising proper care in placing them. Planted with other things, they have a background, and the beauties are brought out the stronger by contrast and comparison. It is quite as important, therefore, to consider the place for planting as to choose the particular kinds of plants. The appreciation of artistic effects in plants is a mark of highly developed sensibilities. Happily, this appreciation is rapidly growing; and this fact contributes to the increasing popularity of landscape gardening and ornamental gardening. Some of the best effects in Herb planting are to be seen in the wild, particularly along fences, roads and streams. In interpreting these native effects, the planter must remember that Herbs are likely to grow larger and more bushy in cultivation than in the wild. He should cover the bare and unseemly places about the borders of his place. He may utilize a rock or a wall as a background (Fig. 1043). He may hide the ground line about a post or along a fence. Some of the commonest Herbs are handsome when well grown and well placed.  Always plant where the Herbs will have relation to something else,—to the general design or handling of the place. This will usually be about the boundaries The hardy border is the unit in most planting of herbs. A rockwork Herb border is often useful in the rear or at one side of the premises. Fill some of the corners by the house. In remote parts of the grounds, half-wild effects may be allowed. A pond or a pool, even if stagnant, often may be utilized to advantage. A good Herb out of place may be worse than a poor Herb in place. But when Herbs are grown for their individual effects, give plenty of room and good care: aim at a perfect specimen. -L.H. Bailey, Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, 1900

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Library of America Publishes New Aldo Leopold Collection

At the Liberty Hyde Museum, Aldo Leopold is referred to as a legacy writer. As Bailey scholar Frederick Kirschenmann notes, "Aldo Leopold was, of course, deeply influenced by Liberty Hyde Bailey and shared Bailey’s conviction that the only way to achieve a 'permanent' agriculture was by means of a new land ethic grounded in such ecological principles."  A new collection by Library of America now allows the reader to delve closer to this environmental luminary. In this collection, A Sand County Almanac is joined by over fifty previously uncollected articles, essays, speeches, and personal letters that chart the evolution of Leopold's ideas, most notably his revolutionary "land ethic" : a manifesto for bringing humanity into right relationship with the natural world. A great read to start out a new year.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

May Dreams Gardens: Garden of Desire

May Dreams Gardens: Garden of Desire: It was Liberty Hyde Bailey who wrote in The Gardener (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1925), " Gardening is more than the gro...

Liberty Hyde Bailey Interpretive Garden Path: Great Backyard Bird Count!

Liberty Hyde Bailey Interpretive Garden Path: Great Backyard Bird Count!: Russ Schipper and students looking at birds     This past Friday my students participated in the Great North Ame...

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Birds-Bailey's First Published Essay

With the annual Great Backyard Bird Count coming-up on Friday, February 15th and with students and teachers at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Interpretive Garden Path doing their part, it is fitting to feature the first published essay by a young L.H. Bailey fittingly entitled, "Birds."
 
BIRDS: AN ESSAY READ BEFORE THE MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY AT SOUTH HAVEN, SEPT. 4, 1873, BY MASTER L. H. BAILEY, A LAD OF FIFTEEN YEARS.
 
    Mr. President, Ladies And Gentlemen,—When the rigors of winter are over, and the pleasant days of spring return, what is more charming and delightful than the presence of birds? What is more useful in destroying the myriads of insects which infest our vegetation? Each one, from the different kind of insects it destroys, is almost indispensable to every farmer and fruit grower. As to food, our common birds may be divided into three classes ; first, insectivorous, or insect eaters, which include the blue bird, wren, swallows, nut-hatch, kingbird, and woodpecker.
     The bluebird, which is one of the earliest comers and most beneficial of all our singing birds, feeds principally on cut-worms, grasshoppers, and beetles. Like the wren, he will build in most any little box put up for the purpose.
     Next in order is that familiar little bird the wren. It subsists mostly on millers and larvae; on account of its small size it destroys a good many insects which other birds do not.
    The numerous swallow family feed upon beetles, mosquitoes, and other winged insects.
    The nut-hatch, though not so well known as the preceding species, is one of our most useful orchard birds. You may see him creeping about the trees with head downwards, destroying every insect that comes in his way. He suspends his nest underneath a limb, and it is composed of fine twigs and the inside layer of bark.
     The kingbird, or tyrant fly-catcher, subsists mostly on beetles, flies, and all sorts of winged insects. Observe him perched upon some old mullen stalk, capturing every insect that comes in sight, and see if he does not fully repay for the few bees he destroys.
     The woodpeckers feed upon beetles and larvae. They also destroy the apple tree borer.
     Class second is called granivorous, or grain-eating birds, which include the thistle, or yellow bird, cedar bird, chipping sparrow, and ground bird.
    The yellow bird, though not insectivorous, may be regarded as our friend. His food consists chiefly of the seeds of thistles and other weeds, thus destroying a great many noxious plants.
    The cedar bird, or cherry bird as he is commonly called, feeds almost entirely upon fruit, although in the spring he destroys the canker worm. Nuttall says: "For hours together he may be seen feeding on the all-despoiling canker worm, which infests our apple and elm trees."
    The chipping sparrow and ground bird live on seeds, bugs, and worms on the ground.
The third class of birds is called omnivorous, or all-eaters, which include the robin, thrush, lark, and cat-bird.
In the spring the robin destroys an immense number of cut worms and injurious insects. Later in the season he takes to fruit.
    The thrush, or brown thrasher, feeds mostly on beetles, larvae, and berries. The lark seems to subsist upon grubs, worms and seeds. The food of the cat-bird is mostly larvae, pear slugs, and fruit.
    Thus nearly all the noxious insects which infest our fields and forests are devoured. Thousands are destroyed in a day by these harmless songsters, yet the selfish man dooms them to destruction. But this is not all; they have powers of music unequaled by works of art. Their charming songs and beautiful plumage lend life and vivacity to the dullest place:
 
The robin sings sweetly from her native bowers,
The humming bird sips the dewy flowers,
And the blue-jay's voice is often heard
From the forest, by fragrant breezes stirred.
 
The thrush, perched upon some lofty tree
That overshades the way.
Pours forth her song with joy and glee,
As if to welcome the coming day.
 
The lark's sweet warble from the grassy dale
Mingles with the lay of the cat bird and quail,
And the chipping sparrows afford a charm
To the thicket as well as the farm.
 
The wren chants merrily from the spreading trees
That surround her home of delight,
She smooths her pinions in the passing breeze
And sings from morning until night.
 
The blue birds warble from the orchards fair,
And the swallows twitter as they fly through the air,
And the yellow-bird's notes from the neighboring hill
Resound to the echoing whip-poor-will.
 
Among the birds so beautiful and gay
I love to wander all day long;
On pinions of light they fly away
And join the universal revel of song.