48 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



main a cumberer of the ground. Hence we shall beware of tree- 

 peddlers, and shall pay careful attention to the catalogues furnish- 

 ed by good and reliable dealers, those men who belong to our 

 horticultural societies. 



But if I teach you to regard tree planting from a practical point 

 of view merely, I have failed of saying all I would. That Scot- 

 tish Laird was worldly wise, who while on his death-bed, gave this 

 parting advice to his son : " Jock, when ye hae naething else to 

 do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree, it will be growing, Jock, 

 when ye're sleeping." But that old Roman, Cicero, was wiser 

 than his generation, when he wrote, "If any should ask the aged 

 cultivator for whom he plants, let him not hesitate to make this 

 reply: 'For the immortal gods, who, as they willed me to inherit 

 these possessions from my forefathers, so would have me hand 

 them on to those that shall come after me." Let us ennoble our 

 daily living by the high purposes we carry in our hearts. 



"What more delightful time for this reunion than delicious 



June? 



" Then, if ever, come perfect days." 



We gather from city and village and farm house to take each 

 other by the hand, to speak a word of cheer and to get courage 

 for that which the future has in store. 



" No matter how barren the past may have been 

 'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green," 



sings the poet. Let us take with us through all the year the glad- 

 ness and the confiding trust which come to us with these rare 

 June days ; and as we go forth from beneath the shadow of these 

 sheltering pine trees — the survivors of the " forest primeval," let 

 us return to our homes with a new strength gained from commun- 

 ion with nature and with one another. 



