TRANSACTIONS OF WARSAW HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 261 



But the man who has given the subject attention and thought, and 

 carefully studied and experimented, distrusts his own ability, and feels 

 that he has only entered the vestibule of horticultural knowledge. What 

 a field of research is before us ! Why do certain varieties succeed in one 

 orchard, and in a neighboring one fail ? That there are certain partly 

 understood conditions of cultivation and general management that will 

 necessarily prevent the pear blight, no one doubts. Why have they not 

 been fully determined ? Who can explain why certain varieties of peaches 

 reproduce themselves, while others fail to do so entirely? What are the 

 deductions? Simply that there are certain conditions of soil, cultivation 

 and growth that produce these varied results, and when we fully under- 

 stand these we shall be on the high road to success. 



Horticulture is both a science and an art. Science is knowledge 

 arranged and so made available that it may be applied to useful purposes. 

 Art is science harnessed to the various practical pursuits of life. The 

 former is a creature of the head — " it teaches us to know;" the latter of 

 the hdfhd — " it teaches us to execute." 



The mysteries of vegetable and insect life, with which we are sur- 

 rounded, make the former absolutely necessary to our success. Nor can 

 the latter be ignored with safety. It is therefore evident that the horti- 

 culturist must be both a scientific and practical man, or he will make a 

 disastrous failure. Here the question arises, how can this science be 

 attained? In no other way so readily as through the instrumentality of 

 horticultural societies. Here our knowledge is thrown into a common 

 stock, and we enjoy the benefit of the accumulated experience of the 

 entire membership. 



How to enlarge our borders, and increase our membership and useful- 

 ness, is a question that may well come before us for consideration. We 

 have, it is true, achieved a position among our sister societies, of which 

 we may well be proud, yet our membership has been mainly from the 

 western portion of the county, while it should include many of the 

 intelligent, cultured farmers, from all parts of the county. If they only 

 knew — if we could only make them understand — that to make life pleas- 

 ant for themselves and their families, and to cause their children to love 

 their homes and be contented with rural life, they must not only give them 

 all possible social and intellectual advantages, but make their homes 

 neat and attractive by cultivating fruits in abundance, and trees and 

 shrubs and flowers, they would realize the importance of the work in 

 which we are engaged, and be more ready to give us their aid and 

 influence. 



In conclusion, it becomes my duty to pay a passing tribute to the 

 memory of a faithful co-laborer, who, since our last annual meeting, has 

 passed to the spirit land. We have lost a valued friend and co-worker, 

 but his family have lost a loving husband and father, and to them we 

 would extend our heartfelt sympathies. 



Charles Willis died at his residence near Hamilton, on the 9th of 

 May last, after a brief but painful illness. Mr. Willis was a man of earnest 

 application, and untiring energy, and had by many years of experience 



