increasing all the time. It is very interesting to note that over 60 per
cent of our flour and feed customers are not members of the association.

We are growing all the time and branching out. A few months ago we added
a small stock of hardware and some groceries, and these have taken so
well that we would not be at all surprised if eventually we find
ourselves in the retail store business.




Evergreens for Both Utility and Ornament.

EARL FERRIS, NURSERYMAN, HAMPTON, IOWA.


As far as horticulture is concerned, the only touch of color on the
Northwestern landscape during the coming winter will be furnished by the
greens and blues of evergreens.

Did you ever pass a farm home in the winter that was protected by a good
evergreen grove and notice how beautiful it looked? Did you ever stop to
think of the difference in temperature that an evergreen grove makes, to
say nothing of the contrast in the appearance of the place to that of a
home with no grove?

[Illustration: A shelter of old Scotch pine at Mr. Earl Ferris'.]

When I was a small boy I was fortunate enough to be raised on a farm in
Butler County, Iowa, that was well protected by a good Norway spruce,