STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 109 



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 lar estimate the claims of the Arbutus of the New England States ; 

 it would have to wrest victory from the Orange blossom of 

 Floridian groves; from the coral-blossomed Cypress, with its 

 tendrils draping in living Arabesque, the stumps and trunks 

 of trees of southern swamps; from the Honeysuckle, which 

 adorns, with its fragrant blossoms of pink and white, the home 

 of the aristocrat and the home of the peasant; from the stately 

 Magnolia that sheds its perfume in glen and grove; from those 

 desert children of the southwest, the Cacti, whose thorny 

 spines and grotesque leaves bespeak not to the traveler the 

 beauty of their blossom ; from the Rhododendron that waves its 

 pink plumes in the brakes of the northwestern wilds ; from these 

 and many others will the champion be forced to wrest victory. 



Why it should not be a single flower. I do not wish to be 

 thought pedantic, and yet at the risk of being so considered, 

 shall ask you to pause with me sufficiently long to consult a dic- 

 tionary on the meaning of the word "emblem." 



Says Webster of this word: "Emblem, a picture, representing 

 one thing to the eye and another to the understanding, A 

 painted enigma, or a figure representing some obvious history; 

 instructing us in some moral truth. 



"Second, emblem, a painting or representation intended to 

 hold forth some moral or political instruction ; ail allusive pic- 

 ture; a typical designation." 



These definitions are not obsolete, they are extant, and by 

 them are measured all the emblematic tokens of the time. The 

 flags of the nation are designed in accordance with these mean- 

 ings, and the insignia of all social orders in Christendom are 

 allusive representations of a truth but partly expressed. 



The initial which we jot down at the foot of the notes which 

 we daily write, as well as the monogram that adorns the corner 

 of the sheet, are in keeping with the terms of these definitions. 

 With a definition accepted and acted upon so universally as this 

 one is, may we not, with perfect propriety, use it as the means 

 whereby to judge the emblems of our country, now in use, and 

 such others as may in the future be adopted? 



With this as a guiding means in studying our flag and seal, we 

 learn that the emblematic truths expressed are mainly political, 

 relating to our ability as a nation; three thoughts being promi- 

 nently brought forth — namely, plurality, strength and unity. 



In analyzing the flag, we obtain the following results: 

 Plurality is indicated by the collective number of stars and 

 stripes ; strength by the stars held in the firmament of blue and 

 the stripes joined together; unity by the stars and stripes 

 in their entirety as the national flag; teaching to the world our 

 motto, "E Pluribus UnumV 



On our national seal the same cardinal truths are found — 

 plurality, strength and unity. In the numerous arrows clutched 



