338 iIlLinois state horticultubal society. 



# 



the Glee Club of Hamilton, and to one and all who have so earnestly 

 worked and generously contributed to the success and pleasure of the 

 occasion. 



AUGUST MEETING. 



The meeting for August was held at Wild-Cat Springs, Hamilton^ 

 one of the grandest and most inviting spots in the vicinity of the lower 

 chain of rapids on the great " Father of Waters." But having on a former 

 occasion described this romantic spot we will only add that these springs 

 need to be seen to be appreciated, and the people of Hamilton are justly 

 proud of this magnificent resort. 



The day was delightful, the air pure and balmy, and all nature had 

 on its most beautiful robes. The attendance was excellent, the old, the 

 young and the middle aged were fully represented, and all expressed 

 themselves gratified and delighted, while the sumptuous basket dinner 

 provided was most heartily appreciated. 



A splendid collection of fruits of the season was laid on the tables 

 by members and nearly all correctly labeled. Folks who attend these 

 meetings soon learn the correct names and true character of all the fruits 

 grown in this region, besides a vast amount of useful information per- 

 taining to agricultural pursuits ; in fact, our Society meetings are a great 

 school for the fruit-grower and farmer. 



Jonathan Periam, of Chicago, editor of the Prairie Farmer, deliv- 

 ered the following address : 



OUR YOUNG FOLKS. 



The child men and child women of to-day are those who are to rule the destinies 

 of the nation in the field — the former the workshops and the latter the household of 

 the land — during their day and generation. How to rear them so they may best work 

 for the weal of themselves and their fellows is a problem that has been struggled with 

 by the master minds of every day and generation from the earliest era of civilization. 

 It is yet to be an unsettled problem ; for with each succeeding generation in the progress 

 of enlightened civilization new questions arise to be grappled with, new wants grow 

 out of altered conditions of society; and since the era of printing each succeeding 

 generation has raised a higher and higher standard of excellence in art, science, manu- 

 factures and literature, until now we begin to imagine where it is all to end, and if indeed 

 there is any limit that the mind of man may not ultimately grasp. 



In a moral sense, Solomon uttered a sentiment which is as true to-day as when 

 spoken : " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not 

 depart from it." 



That god-like Pagan, Socrates, from a different standpoint, spoke an undying sen- 

 timent when he said : " Teach a child in youth that which he is to follow in mature 

 age." If we train our children to a love of the good and the beautiful, we may be 

 pretty well assured that they will make men and women as near perfect as mere human 

 nature may be capable of. 



The earliest impressions a child receives are those to which the memory in after 

 years clings with the fondest tenacity. The man (or woman) in old age,when memory fails 

 in all else, clings to the recollection of the brook wending through the valley where he 

 was born. He sees on the hillside the great trees where he used to play, the brook 



