SOCIETY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 289 



which they could be had at their home nursery. No nurseryman 

 but would be glad to confine his apple list to a few standard va- 

 rieties, but he has to meet the demands of his customers, hence 

 the long list of varieties. 



To the farmers I would say, make your arrangements to set 

 out fruit trees upon the farm, and when set out take care of them 

 and give the proper cultivation. Subscribe for some horticul- 

 tural paper, and when convenient, join a Horticultural Society. 

 It will pay you every time. • Send your orders direct to your 

 nearest reliable nursery; or, better still, go yourself, and rely 

 largely upon the nurseryman's advice as to varieties, &c. It is 

 not the best-looking nursery trees that are the best to plant. 

 For instance, the Minkler, Willow and Roman Stem are poor 

 growers in the nursery, but excellent varieties in the orchard. 



THE STATUS OF HORTICULTURE. 



BY C. S. ROWLEY, LACON. 



The stone age held the world captive a good long while, but 

 finally gave way. Then we had advancements, and this I believe 

 is called the iron age. Steel superceeds iron as an improvement, 

 and in connection with steam was until recently the universal 

 motor of the world. But electricity is stepping in now, and ere 

 long we confidently expect to see it take the place of steam. 

 Away back in the history of the world, Galileo was imprisoned 

 for declaring the earth moved on its own axis. To make such a 

 statement at that time was the rankest heresy. Ignorance, and 

 what was worse than ignorance alone — superstition — barred the 

 door to every advanced idea. Those were called the "Dark 

 ages." So we see, by reading history, the world has not only had 

 its stone age, its bronze age, its iron age, but also has had its 

 dark age. 



Among the great improvements made of late years, we could 

 name many things which, had they been merely hinted at in the 

 old dark age in which Galileo lived, the unlucky heretic who 

 dared to utter them would have been torn in pieces for his au- 

 dacity. 



Thus we see that the world's history has been progressive, 

 step by step, up to the present time. The history of horticulture 

 is written on the same plane. Think of the oiden times, at the 

 close of the last century, when a China Rose brought the great 

 sum of $2,500, and Tulips were sold at fabulous prices. Old 

 Nero, that cruel-hearted emperor of Rome, gave one hundred 

 and fifty thousand dollars for flowers to decorate a supper. 

 "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," and flowers 

 had charms to please the savage eye of Nero. 

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