10G STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



as others have done before him, and will give the world an illustrated lesson in 

 orthography by proving beyond all cavil that real, substantial, genuine luck is 

 always spelled with a big P. 



The road to success is strewn with failures, and. happy is he who uses them 

 as stepping-stones on his upward path, instead of regarding them as insur- 

 mountable barriers erected, by fate to bar all progress. 



HORTICULTURE BOTH POETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 



And the tilling of the soil has for the dreamer its poetical side as well as its 

 practical. If the youth who adopts it as a vocation is of a contemplative, 

 devotional temperament, he will look upon the planting, the tending, and. the 

 gathering as sacred rights, rather than as hard, unlovely conditions of toil ; he 

 will feed his love of the beautiful on the white promises of spring, which casts 

 its billows of bloom over orchard, garden, and. meadow. He will hear the 

 trees tell each other wonderful legends of other days, when the winds move 

 them to speak, and he will look upon the mellow fruits of the autumn as globes 

 of condensed sunshine and fragrance. 



A GRAND FIELD FOR YOUTHFUL DISCIPLINE. 



In horticultural pursuits there is one of the grandest fields for youthful dis- 

 cipline to be found anywhere. First, the work must be done well or it will not 

 bring the greatest reward ; second, the labor must be performed in season, or 

 no good results will follow; and third, the youth must learn to do the work as 

 he is instructed by those in authority, or disappointment and vexatious trials 

 will follow each other in rapid succession. I place great stress on the last 

 requisite, for some of my worst disappointments with boys have been caused by 

 failure on their part to follow instructions, and do as nearly as might be as 

 directed. Fortunate indeed is that youth or young man who early learns this 

 important lesson; and thrice fortunate is he who, having learned the precept, 

 puts it into daily practice, until such time as, by the display of watchful care 

 and good judgment, advancement follows step by step, until he himself 

 reaches the position of commander. 



