Presidenfs Annual Address. 7 



And the men of this country who have mastered their passions and have re- 

 estabhshed sincere relations of fraternity may well 



" Stand serene and down tlie future see the golden beam ineline 

 To the side of perfect justice, mastered by their faith divine, 

 By man's plain truth to manhood, and to God's supreme <lesign." 



Perhaps the most satisfactory result of a great gathering of people, who 

 come a thousand miles to see each other — from the great lakes of the North 

 and the coast regions of the tropical Gulf, from the vast plains of Nebraska, 

 Kansas and Texas, the once " Great American Desert," and from the beauti- 

 ful valleys and hill-sides of the older States, is the great profit we find in a 

 wider and more intimate personal acquaintance. If we were to do no more 

 at this meeting than to shake hands all round, renewing old and forming 

 new acquaintances, engaging in the delightful social intercourse of these 

 days spent together, being Avarmed by the common sympathy pervading 

 horticultural societies, we should find full repayment for our expense of time 

 and money. 



But beyond all this there is, I think, a great work for us to do in perfecting 

 the science and the art of horticulture and contributing to the welfare and 

 happiness of mankind. I have often been asked, " What is the purpose of 

 this Society ? " " What is the need of having such a society ? " " What is the 

 work yQU are proposing to do?" It is fitting that these questions should 

 have an answer. If you will indulge me I Avill briefly give you some of the 

 reasons why, in my judgment, there should be such a society as this, and out- 

 line some of the work which it may profitably attempt to do. 



A PLEA FOR ORGANIZATION. 



We have, in nearly all of the States, Horticultural Societies and a great 

 number of Local Societies, all of which are doing valuable work in educating 

 public taste and extending special knowledge of our business. We have also 

 three great national organizations, each of which is carrying forward a spe- 

 cial work of its own. The American Pomological Society has long been doing 

 excellent service in the stricth' pomological department of horticultural la- 

 bor, and its venerable chief, who is the grandest figure which the world's 

 horticulture has produced in any country or in any age, receives the homage 

 of all hearts in the whole realm of our art. We shall gladly be tributary to 

 this great society in its invaluable work. Not less important in its purposes 

 and in the work it has begun to do, is the American Forestry Association. 

 The supreme necessity for the most vigorous labor in this special field is felt 

 by all. With that society we shall labor in perfect sympathy. The Ameri- 

 can Nurserymen's Association is another organization of great importance to 

 the interests of plant and tree propagation — an indispensable factor in the 

 scheme of horticultural improvement. 



But none of these noble societies fully meet a want which man j' of us have 

 felt, of an organization modeled after the best of our State societies, but em- 

 bracing a territory almost national in its extent, throughout which commer- 

 cial horticultural relations are daily becoming more intimate and important. 



