18 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



ncicnt piles of granite splendor which live and will live forever because of 

 their grandeur, listening to the church chimes, which trill upon the air, 

 blending the devotional whisperings of the heart and stimulating the aspira- 

 tions of the soul, resting in the shadow of the school-house, from whose door- 

 step trips the future greatness of our land, and saluted by the thrilling con- 

 cert of loom and anvil, of forge and furnace, of whistling engines and whir- 

 ring sjtindles, which tills with rich melody this great valley and echoes in the 

 far ofl' mountains, it would be an abnormal mind which thinks it can pay 

 sufficient homage to American labor. 



The golden harvest surging and rustling over the fields; the wild flower of 

 the hills trained into the laughing, blushing rose of the garden; the delicious 

 fruit that hangs pendant from limb and vine; yea, this magnificent nation 

 itself, with all of her industries and many of her charms, are the fruits of 

 the wear of muscle and the toil of mind. Wherever the adornments of cul- 

 ture and civilization are the most abundant and the comforts of life are the 

 most prominent, there the seal of labor glitters the most proudly. 



Yes, my countrymen, the men who sling the sledge and feed the loom,. 

 who herd the cattle and hold the plow, who plant the trees and prune the 

 vine, are the ones who feed and clothe this world. 



Here in jiroud America, more than any other country on earth, dotted all 

 over with her cities and villages, the land where Nature has carpeted the val- 

 leys and plains with fragrant magnificence and enterprise, has covered her 

 hills and sterile mountains with living beauty, where the birds of the trees 

 strike the key of the anthem of liberty, and fifty millions of people join in 

 the song, it is the man who labors— the man in his shirt sleeves— who is the 

 jnost important personage who treads the soil or w'alks the elegant streets of 

 our cities. It is on the great arm of labor that rest the pillars of our govern- 

 ment and the prosperity of our nation. 



We are, my fellow countrymen and co-laborers, here to represent our great 

 branch of American industry, and from contact and observation, no prouder 

 or more important body of laborers ever assembled in this country. Our 

 position here as members of this Association, representing the richest and 

 most beautiful of all of God's vineyard; aye, the charter members, I may 

 say, of an organization, which, I am led to believe, will live on and grow on 

 when none of us are left to' lift a voice in her meeting halls, render it incum- 

 bent upon us to don anew the armor of oar cause, to add new vigor and life 

 to our work, and delve deeper and deeper into the sciences which render its 

 study and practice so beautiful. 



Railroads, grander than the world ever saw, are ribbing our valley, north 

 and south, and east and west, moving the traffic of the millions. The rivers 

 are laden with the riches of our teeming harvests. The hungry millions of 

 the Old World look to our valley as the great granary and store-house from 

 which to draw their supplies. Our orchards are beginning to find a lucra- 

 tive market on the other side of the Atlantic, and our fruits are sought after 

 in all forms of preservation in European homes. Yet I may say we are only 



