SOCIETY OP CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 239 



Our work is not a selfish one, for all will admit that the safety 

 and mainstays of our republic are our schools, churches and 

 farmers' homes. It is therefore our duty as good citizens and 

 lovers of humanity, to bring them up to the highest point of 

 usefulness and make our country schools and churches and 

 especially our rural homes, so pleasant and enjoyable that the 

 boys and girls and young men and maidens will be unwilling to 

 leave them for the allurements of the city. 



We have no disposition to underrate the value of the cities. 

 The spirit of enterprise they show is commendable in the high- 

 est degree, and some of the noblest men that have blessed our 

 nation were residents of the great cities, yet it is a sad, but 

 undeniable fact that in the great city of the west, the 4,000 by- 

 ways to hell, known as saloons, can control more votes than all 

 its educational and religious institutions combined. 



How important then that the rural districts rear up a gener- 

 ation of earnest, honest, cultured men, who will hold in check 

 this vast army of intemperate, ignorant and often vicious men, 

 who would gladly undermine the very foundations of society and 

 launch our government upon the strong sea of anarchy and con- 

 fusion. 



In the palmy days of the Roman empire, when nearly every 

 citizen was a land owner, and a majority of the people were 

 dwellers in the country, every man "was a patriot," the govern- 

 ment was stable and the people contented and happy, but with 

 increasing wealth they became luxuriant and effeminate, rural 

 life became distasteful, the rural homes were exchanged for the 

 more exciting life of the city, public men became corrupt, social 

 life impure, and the end we all know. 



If history does not "repeat itself" in the new western world, it 

 will be because our country homes keep pace with the advance of 

 taste and esthetic culture, and our rural people are intelligent, 

 prosperous and happy. 



But it may be asked what can the Horticultural Society of 

 Central Illinois do to advance this desirable end? Much, every 

 way. First, as already referred to by aiding in the organization 

 of local societies, and encouraging and instructing in tree plant- 

 ing, especially on Arbor Day. Also by its members giving active 

 encouragement and support to the farmers' institutes that are 

 annually held in almost every county and district in the state. 

 These meetings may be made a power for good, and if properly 

 conducted, many a plodding farmer will be made to see that he 

 is wasting his opportunities and be persuaded to make a "new de- 

 parture" by adopting improved methods of culture, improving 

 his stock and adding to the comforts of his home ; and many^ a 

 young man will be enthused with an ambition that will urge him 

 onward and upward till he should gain a noble place among the 

 world's great workers. 



