146 State Horticultural Society, 



3. "We find that the Rome Beauty beats the Ben Davis on the 

 home stretch — 15 or 20 years." 



"The Ben Davis apple, Hke Grant's Generalship, is often criticised, 

 but always triumphant." 



What conclusion would a careless reader draw from such pas- 

 sages? They are all verbatim quotations save one. I imagine he 

 would say, those bug hunters and worm catchers down there can give 

 each other the lie in the politest way I ever saw. But let him read it 

 as we try to tell it, consider the things we are careful to consider, and 

 he would see that we do not dogmatise. 



Possibly the members of no profession are more ready to learn 

 from the experience of others than we are. This is no easy thing in 

 many cases, and even here we must be careful. I think Prof. Stanley, 

 in the winter meeting at Princeton, belittled experience too much. 

 Still he was right in contending "that the first essential to successful 

 orcharding is a knowledge of nature's methods in the economy of plant 

 life, and the conditions favorable to health, growth and fruitage, that 

 we may assist nature by operating upon conditions when they are 

 found to be at fault." The experience of such a man told on this floor 

 or printed in our many excellent journals is of great value; and bi- 

 goted — short sighted, at least — must be the man who persistently re- 

 fuses to attend these meetings or take one of our journals when offered 

 to him at 20 cents a year. 



The expression, "Experience is a hard teacher, and fools will 

 learn b\- no other," is ver}' applicable to such fellows as I was when 

 I employed a brag to prune my young orchard. He had had great 

 experience. A\ hat he knew he had learned by experience. Mr. So and 

 So over there or down here don't know anything about apple trees. I 

 can fix them just right. And he fixed them. I was wiser. I learned 

 from his experience. In fact, had some of my own, and learned later 

 that my tree doctor had never attended our association or read a 

 journal. 



About that time I learned another lesson. Let me give it to }'ou 

 by way of advice. Never employ a widower over 45 years old to dig 

 the borers from your trees. He can't see well enough, and should he 

 want to marry — and most of them do — he won't wear glasses. As a 

 result, the next year you can dig out your own worms and carry a few 

 trees out on your back. 



Thus we see all our intellectual faculties are trained in the pursuit 

 of horticulture; and if we include floriculture and landscape gardening, 

 as I have done, the aesthetic faculties will certainly be trained, and 

 thus the whole man educated. 



