Z TBANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



frosts, biting heat, the blasting east wind, with the army of insect- 

 ivorous pests, have rendered your labors difficult and often discour- 

 aging. In the two score years of your history you have achieved 

 valuable results; but there are still problems engaging your earnest 

 attention, especially that of the adaptability of the appropriate 

 varieties of that '' king of fruits," the apple, to our diversified soil 

 and climate. 



The art of horticulture, technically and narrowly applied to the 

 culture of a garden, has, under your wise administration, expanded 

 its original limits, and now embraces the ornamentation of public 

 parks and school grounds, the beautifying of private lawns, the cult- 

 ure of ornamental trees and the adornment of home; and while agri- 

 culture must always remain the foundation of our national prosper- 

 ity, you, ladies and gentlemen, enter the temple, and with fruit and 

 flowers, make it a thing of beauty as well as strength. 



I again welcome you, and in these bleak December days may 

 you pluck the flowers of hospitality and sociability, and reap the 

 fruits of a meeting pleasantly and profitably spent. 



RESPONSE 



BY DK. A. G. HUMPHREY, GALESBURG. 



Ladies and Gentlemen^ Citizens of Princeton and 



Members of the Illinois State Horticultural Society: 



Speaking for the President and Members of this Society we 

 gratefully accept the kind hospitality of this city so pleasantly given 

 through the honored Mayor of this beautiful municipality. 



The name of your city seems to me to have poetical significance. 

 I am not a linguist, but I should think it meant the "prince of 

 towns." The beautiful site upon which your city is built, and the 

 architectural taste of your buildings, and the neat and clean appear- 

 ance of the business houses and your homes give force to my poeti- 

 cal illustration. The word horticulture, too, has a poetical signifi- 

 cance, especially in the large sense it is now used, as indicated by the 

 gentleman in his beautiful address of welcome. Horticulture, as 

 now understood, not only teaches us how to produce out of the soil 

 the luscious fruits for the use of man, but also how to beautify and 

 adorn our homes, to make them attractive and interesting to visitors, 

 and the most pleasant for ourselves. 



My observation convinces me that you are happily situated in a 

 horticultural point of view. Certainly so, if a large portion of the 

 splendid show of fruit in the exhibit above was grown in Northern 

 Illinois soil. 



We trust our deliberations will so interest your citizens that 

 after a few years you will take pleasure in again entertaining our 

 Society at its annual session. 



