60 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A single discovery is sometimes of such value that the time and 

 money required for making these tests is considered a wise expendi- 

 ture, and not a gift bestowed upon a useless enterprise, as it would 

 have been regarded a half century ago. 



The sons and daughters of horticulturists should be taught to 

 regard their fathers' occupation as one in which industry is rewarded, 

 talent developed and virtue nurtured. The prospect of realizing vast 

 fortunes in a few years may not allure many boys and girls to the study 

 of horticulture, but probable exemption from starvation should deter 

 some from leaving it. 



True, life is not all sunshine, even to the horticulturist. A casual 

 observer might conclude that, the results of labor being the criterion, 

 his country brother must certainly be supremely blest. He forgets the 

 ■early rising, the toil of noon-day, and the night's rest disturbed by 

 fears of drouths, frosts, tempests, floods and rains. • 



But remembering these, is there in all the catalogue of employ- 

 ments, another which combines so much good with so little evil? 



It is a fact oft repeated that a majority of our greatest men and 

 women were reared in country homes. This does not imply that 

 ■every country boy and girl will eventually become famous. Farming 

 and fame are not indissolubly united. 



But the probability of reaching maturity with a sound body, clear 

 brain and good morals is greater in the case of a child reared in the 

 country than in that of a city child. 



The country child is seldom idle. This alone precludes many evils 

 and trains him to habits of industry. Leisure moments are usually 

 spent at home, hence the temptation to cloud the brain with cigarette 

 smoke or destroy soul and body in the winecup is removed. There 

 are fewj!r associates, and they may be more carefully chosen than they 

 could possibly be in the city. Winter evenings, and the rainy days 

 which do come occasionally, even in our own State, offer opportunities 

 for reading and study. Entertainments seldom occupy the evenings, 

 so the family that desires it may have some time almost every day, 

 which may be spent in a way which strengthens the ties that bind to 

 home and to one another. 



Contact with nature exerts a healthy influence. However, exam- 

 ples of persons who, " having eyes see not, and having ears hear not," 

 are common. 



Why look upon the universe as nothing but an institution for 

 money-making. Niagara would awaken in such souls no thought save 

 an estimate of the number of factories that might be propelled by its 

 power. 



