Pi'esidenfs Anriual Address. 5 



earth and of procuring from it the fairest fruits, flowers and embelhshnients. 

 Wherever agricuUure has ifourished, architecture has prospered. We have 

 but to look at a highly cultivated piece of land to-day and note the architec- 

 tural beauties with which it is embellished. 



Gentlemen, I do not propose to detain you to-night. You come here for a 

 grand purpose. The programme shows that you have to consider subjects 

 of importance, and of the greatest importance to the whole land. You have 

 much to do. Our Association, which has not been as active as your own, will 

 take courage from you. We shall listen and expect to be instructed, and we 

 shall take the deepest interest in all the deliberations which shall take place 

 among you. 



To which President Earle responded as follows: 



3Ir. President, Gentlemen and Citizens of Neiv Means : 



In the unfortunate absence of the gentleman M'ho was to have responded 

 to this most cordial welcome from Mr. Hudson — Gov. Colman, of St. Louis — 

 I can only say, on the part of this Society, that our hearts respond warmly 

 to the welcome which you extend to us. We have come down here from 

 the North, and from the West, and from all parts of the Mississippi valley, to 

 make your acquaintance, to exchange cordial greetings of friendship, to 

 compare views, and to give encouraging words regarding the useful art of 

 horticulture in which the people of all sections of our great country are 

 deeply interested, and to deepen and widen that feeling of a community of 

 interests, and a sincere brotherhood between all of our several sections, with- 

 out which no permanent prosperity and no high civilization can be main- 

 tained. I am glad. Sir, to receive this welcome from you, and to receive it 

 in Louisiana. I am glad we have come down here to this beautiful and his- 

 toric city, to this memorable and fertile State, where nature smiles perennially 

 in verdure and in flowers; but I am more glad to meet the warm welcome 

 in your faces, than of your mild and sunny skies. Let me assure you, Sir^ 

 that every member of this society responds cordially to the generous spirit 

 of your welcome. But I can not trust myself to say more upon a theme 

 which so touches my heart, but will proceed now with my regular address 

 to the Society. 



PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



Members and Friends: The territory which this Society represents, pos- 

 sesses imperial extent and resources. The natural wealth of this great valley 

 surpasses by far that of any existing empire on the globe. The magnitude 

 of our agricultural resources is recognized and commented on the world over 

 with wonder. The markets of the world depend upon the yield of our fields 

 and our pastures. The size of the harvests in the Mississippi valley affects 

 the price of the daily bread of half the population of the globe. The indus- 

 trial development of this valley has revolutionized the commercial and eco- 



