Society of the Holy Earth

This essay calls for a new kind of organization for the betterment of our planet, a sort of grassroots fellowship, one of "few officers and many leaders [...] controlled by a motive rather than by a constitution. [...] Its principle of union will be the love of the Earth, treasured in the hearts of men and women."

Midwinter

Bailey celebrates the turn of the seasons and offers the guidance that winter, even "the dead of winter," may be filled with wonder at nature for the gardener to the extent that she is able to be a part of it.

November: June

While the outward appearance of the garden and nature in November, after the harvest and as winter sets in, seems to be one of death and passing, below the surface the "energies of June" are being garnered, connecting the seemingly contrasting months of November and June.

Lesson I.—The Pumpkin

This is an inquiry-based educational text for elementary students on the pumpkin and its comparison to the squash, explored through lyrical poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier and prose by Liberty Hyde Bailey.

307

Bailey describes the process and feeling of planting and growing 307 distinct varieties of a single genus of plant for a "specimen garden," explaining that he was not planting for an effect but for their "acquaintance." Along with enumerating some of the specific species he grew, Bailey introduces the topic of botanical nomenclature and its variability.

The Growing of Plants by Children—The School-Garden

The main idea in this chapter is that the "love of plants should be inculcated in the school." While there "are many practical applications" for children to gain knowledge of "plants and horticulture," Bailey indicates that the knowledge is more than "information of plants themselves." Rather, such knowledge "takes one into the open air… It increases his hold on life." The chapter concludes with types of school gardens: ornamenting the grounds, establishing a collection, making a garden for instruction, and providing a test ground for new varieties.

Undertone

This poem provides a glimpse into Bailey's famously rigorous work ethic, describing the "overtone" of his visible, known daily affairs, but it places higher value on the "undertone," or the "all-silent stream" of the individual's personality, artistically expressed through gardening, through poetry, and through life.

Gardening and Its Future

Working as a summary of section 1, this chapter identifies the garden as the medium for a relationship between the home and its "place in nature." The turning of the seasons as experienced in the garden serves as the home's natural structure, as the house serves as the physical structure. Types of gardens are listed as suggestions along with each type's importance for children's education, giving the student an opportunity to have "natural contact with nature." Lastly, a brief sketch of gardening's future is offered, in which homes, the countryside, parks, and public places all share a common partnership with gardens.

The Feeling for Plants

The garden sentiment is now focused on the individual plant. This "feeling" (also referred to as a sentiment or an enthusiasm) is found in the diverse forms of plants, the uncultivated plant in its natural surroundings, the seasonal progression of plants, and finally the raising and growing of the cultivated plant by the individual.

The Importance of Seeing Correctly

One of Bailey's early essays shows his desire to bring scientific training to gardening, arguing for the importance of correct observation to our experiences of everyday phenomena. He offers a humorous anecdote regarding the logical fallacy, "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" (Latin: "after this, therefore because of this"), in which a family cat is buried near a gooseberry bush and is falsely credited with causing hair to grow on the berries.