STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 355 



over by a passenger train, severely injuring his left leg. Amputa- 

 tion was found necessary, and was accordingly done, though without 

 avail for he died the 18th of the same month — on Thanksgiving 

 day. He received the news that his life was rapidly drawing to a 

 close in a philosophical manner, declaring that he had lived beyond 

 the usual time allowed to man, and was ready to die. Though not 

 professing any religious faith, he met his fate with the calm dignity 

 which befits one who has labored honestly to leave the world better 

 for having lived in it, 



A contemporary says of him : 



"And thus this truly great man, in his special department of science, 

 has been abruptly taken from our midst. * * * * wq are not steppmg 

 beyond the bounds of truth in asserting that Mr. Walsh was one of the 

 ablest and most thorough entomologists of our times; and when we con- 

 sider his isolation from any of the large libraries of the country, and the many 

 other disadvantages under which he labored, we are the more astonished 

 at the work he accomplished. *' * * And though he had some of 



those eccentricities which frequently belong to true genius; and though he 

 made many enemies by his bold, outspoken manner, and his hatred of all 

 forms of charlitanism; yet those best acquainted with him know what a 

 deep feeling, tender and generous heart lay hidden beneath the rough and 

 uncouth exterior." 



His magnificent collection of insects, as you are well aware, 

 was destroyed in the great Chicago fire, excepting a few drawers 

 of coleoptera and lepidoptera. When we consider the many 

 years which this indefagitable entomologist had devoted to the accu- 

 mulation of this collection; and still more, when we take into view 

 the scientific research, and the extensive correspondence and ex- 

 changes by which he had succeeded in attaching to almost every 

 specimen its correct scientific name, it is a difficult task for the lover 

 of this science to reconcile himself to this almost irreparable loss. 



WHAT GOOD IS ACCOMPLISHED BY HORTICULTURAL 



SOCIETIES. 



BY HON". J0H2S" M. PEAESON, GODFREY. 



The mere asking of the above question implies that it is possible 

 to give a negative answer, and that some one may deny that any 

 good results come of our work. 



I will, in what 1 have to say, confine myself to my own expe- 

 rience and observation. I do not say that these societies have done 

 all the good expected of them, or all of which they are capable, any 

 more than I would claim that the church had done all its appointed 

 work, promptly and thoroughly. There is still much to be done by 

 both, and no present prospect of a finish. 



Good fruit ought to be j)lenty, and within the means of all. 

 Good vegetables, in good condition, are necessary for health. These 



