TRANSACTIONS OF GALESBURG HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 369 



matter. The difference in productiveness is the result of the difference in the propor- 

 tions of these elements. It is the difference in the climate — in other words, the differ- 

 ence in the quantity of heat and moisture, and the time that heat and moisture are 

 continued — that makes the chief difference in the earth's products. Give us the tropical 

 heat and moisture, and for the proper period, and we can compete successfully with 

 Cuba and Mexico in the production of the orange, the lemon and the pine-apple. At 

 first blush we are apt to regard this difficulty, or impossibility, without artificial means, 

 of producing all manner of products in all manner of climates, as an unmitigated evil, 

 and in some way connected with the "primal curse" — " in the sweat of thy face shall 

 thou eat bread." The dweller in the temperate or frigid zone longs for the rich flavors 

 and fragrance of the tropics, while he who swelters under the tropical heat as earnestly 

 craves the fruits of the colder regions of the north. But when this difference of prod- 

 ucts is thoughtfully considered, when we take into account the vast results that naturally 

 flow from it, we are compelled to regard it as causative of the greatest of human 

 blessings. 



This difference of products and our tastes, desires and appetites are the great 

 providential levers of the universe — the trade winds and the gulf streams of the world 

 The wide world is ransacked to gratify our appetites, and millions of people are con- 

 stantly employed in collecting and distributing the varied products of the earth. Mexico 

 craves our apples as much as we, in turn, crave her oranges, lemons and pine-apples. 

 That which was once a luxury becomes, by daily use, a necessity of life. How could 

 we live without the fragrant Young Hyson, Oolong and Imperial ? And better still, 

 the rich flavors of the good Old Government Java and the stronger Mocha? If we 

 would have the Greening and the Spitzenburg in their greatest excellence, we must 

 send to New York for them; and we know that a correct taste and good judgment com- 

 pels the New Yorker to send to Illinois for the Bellflower and that delicious apple that 

 so forcibly reminds us of the loves of David and Jonathan. All these differences in 

 kind and quality lead to interchange of products, and such interchange leads to discovery, 

 to travel, to intercourse, and to the enlargement and liberalizing of our ideas. Inter- 

 course tends to wear off the rough edge of character, to remove prejudice and takes the 

 conceit out of us. We find everywhere something to admire, and can learn something 

 of value from the veriest savages. This intercourse is a sort of universal solvent. Like 

 the atmosphere that takes up, distributes and equalizes the exhalations and perfumes of 

 the earth, intercourse distributes to all the thoughts of the race, and measurably compels 

 each people to adopt the best habits, customs, inventions and thoughts of the most 

 advanced peoples. If we could grow cheaply at our own doors all the varied products 

 of the earth, the greatest incentive to discovery and invention and labor would be 

 withdrawn, and men would retrograde into primitive savagery. 



Interchange of products has led to inventions to cheap'en and expedite such inter- 

 changes. It has given us the steamship, the railroad, the telegraph and the telephone. 

 If necessity is the mother of variety of products, coupled with our appetites, it is the 

 father of inventions. It has necessitated a vast multiplication of manufactured goods, 

 and these in turn have led to the invention of labor-saving machinery, and generally 

 have added to the comforts and enjoyments of life. Interchange of products gives 

 vigor, energy and enterprise to a people. It holds the ambitious conqueror in check, 

 and is a bond given by humanity to keep the peace. For how can we have those much 

 coveted products if we destroy the people who produce them? 



Back of all the great discoveries and inventions, and enlightenment, and the general 

 progress of mankind, lie these factors — variety of products", and our tastes, appetites and 

 desires. They tend to humanize the race, to mitigate the horrors of war, to curb our 

 brutish instincts and to open the flood-gates of human sympathy. A yellow fever 

 epidemic, or a famine in Ireland, or in Silesia, is a blow upon the flinty rock of our 

 selfishness, and lets loose a flood of living waters. But for the instant intercourse of 

 nation with nation we should not know of the dire calamity until our lagging charities 

 found only silent graves; nor would we have the facilities for conveying to the suffering 

 millions the life-preserving bounty. Moreover, while we give that which sustains life 

 and relieves suffering, a bond of union and sympathy is being formed, not only wi'h 

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