TRANSACTIONS OF WAUSAW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 255 



NOVEMBER MEETING. 



The November meeting was licld at Dr. Hollowbush's office, the 

 1 6th inst. President Hammond in the chair. 



Nineteen varieties of Siberian crab apples, from Hon. John Grinnell, 

 of Iowa, (omitted at last meeting, ) were laid on the table. Apples by 

 Messrs. Hammond, Grover, Walker, Hathaway, and others, embracing 

 standard market apples and some favorites for family u.se. 



The meeting was called to order at 1 1 A. M. 



Dr. Taylor, who had been assigned the duty of preparing an essa}- 

 on the "Advantages of Rural Life," was called on, and read the follow- 

 ing essay : 



THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF RURAL LIFE. 



To write of country or rural life is to transcribe nature. The field 

 for cultivation is extensive. Were the subject confined to the mere rela- 

 tion of money-making, we might narrow our vision and in a few moments 

 write its history ; but we desire the whole domain in which to roam. 

 Nature is full of interest, knowledge, life and death ; and the country is 

 the place to find her out. If we desire to know man, we must daily walk 

 with him ; and so it is with Nature, we must be by her side, listening to 

 her murmuring brooks, cascades and warbling songs. We must contem- 

 plate the wonders of the storm, and meditate in the solitude of the moon. 

 We must examine the earth and penetrate its mysteries. Every thing that 

 creeps, flies or swims, that grows or lies dormant, should attract our 

 attention. There is nothing to be seen or heard but tells of the great 

 advantages of study. We find locked in its own bosom the history of the 

 earth. It relates a beautiful tale of the past ; of the original elements ; 

 of plant and animal life; of convulsions and changes within, and nooding 

 and disturbance without. Our minds are exalted with the mystery of the 

 mountains, and the bursting forth of volcanoes fills us with awe. The 

 power of the cyclone and the hand of lightning are written on every 

 forest. 



Plant life yields its secrets of growth and decay to the ruralist. He 

 can command the violet, rose, vine and jassamine to unfold their structure 

 and their requirements of growth. He may breathe their perfume and 

 sip their life-giving properties. By the leaf, in early life, he may discern 

 the qualities of the fruit, and know what kind of soil and climate is 

 necessary for its production. The earth, in its life-giving properties, is 

 made to reveal its secrets to him. Not only the elements may be told, but 

 even the quantity necessary to plant-life. 



The animal kingdom awakens in him a deep and profound emotion, 

 for with it he is related and intensely interested. So closely is it allied 

 to vegetable life, that it is almost impossible to draw the dividing line. 



