46 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
the Horticultural Society of this state, and one for the. 
Florists’ Club of this city. Five of the six scholarships 
were awarded early last spring, and the young men who 
hold them have entered upon their work with an industry 
and intelligence, notwithstanding the rather discouraging 
nature of the course for the first year, which promise well 
for the future. They are lodged ina spacious dwelling ad- 
joining the Garden, and have there, for their untrammeled 
use, a small but well-selected library, and a reading-room 
which contains most of the current horticultural papers 
published in the English language. 
The success of such an effort as we are making in this 
direction, depends to no small degree on the class of young 
men who are attracted by it. It was to enlist the interest 
of the two societies that have been named, that scholarships 
were reserved for their nominees. The mutually helpful 
relations which we inaugurate this evening lead us to hope 
for your co-operation in what is intended to be a step for- 
ward in the elevation of gardening in the broadest sense of 
that word. One scholarship is vacant, no suitable appli- 
cant having appeared when the other awards were made. 
One has been vacated by arather mature man, who has en- 
tered the employ of the Garden, having already had much 
of the theoretical work of the course in one of the Agri- 
cultural Colleges of the country, whose degree he holds. 
There will, therefore, be two vacancies to be filled on the 
first of April next, on the result of competitive examina- 
tions to be held a few weeks before that date. I mention 
this to-night, because I hope for your interest in calling 
the attention of suitable men of promise to them, so that 
the examinations on which awards are to be made shall be 
taken by young men capable of doing the best work that 
we can lead them in. As the years go by, I trust that I 
may be privileged to report the success of this step that we 
have taken, and to demonstrate it by introducing to such 
gatherings as this, graduates who may speak for themselves 
