SOCIETY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 179 



•With equal accuracy we may say of the plant that the ways of 

 the eternal Grod are her's. 



He who knows the habit of a plant to that extent has learned 

 the ways of the Eternal. What an opulent and glorious time is this 

 in which we meet ! What a grand centur}^ in which to live, labor 

 and learn. Though horticulture is almost as old as mankind, it is 

 only in recent years that science has been invited to a full partner- 

 ship in the business. Even geology, whose venerable records illus- 

 trate uncounted ages, is, as a science, only three score and ten years 

 of age. 



The crowning glory of this happy century is the devotion of 

 cultivated men to natural science. With each new revelation the 

 thoughts of men are widened, hope for the race is strengthened and 

 charity enlarged. We congratulate you on these happy omens of 

 progress, and we expect, through your presence and labors here, to 

 enlarge the horizon of our knowledge and heighten our interest in 

 w-orld lying all about us. Some among you who stand near to 

 Nature's heart may guess for us the secret by which she transmutes 

 offal, garbage and noisome decay into cucumbers, marigolds and 

 red-cheeked apples. At the least, you will strengthen our faith that 

 some mighty alchemy, analogous to that which brings fair fruits and 

 flavors, and sunset tints from filth and foulness, will yet produce 

 from the beggarly elements of civilization in cities and villages, 

 heroism, beauty, and clean and wholesome lives. For, after all, the 

 great purpose of horticulture is, or should be, homo-culture, — the 

 culture of men. 



Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, one and all, thrice welcome to 

 our rural City of the Elms, 



RESPONSE BY THE PRESIDENT. 



President T. J. Burrill responded in the following appropriate 

 manner: 



I return, in the name of our Society, very hearty thanks for 

 this cordial welcome to Elm wood. Mr. Brown seems to be wonder- 

 fully apt and excellently fitted for writing and presenting such an 

 address. All must acknowledge that the task has been done, not 

 only appropriately but with much vivacity and eloquence, as well 

 as with good judgment and taste. I congratulate the citizens 

 of the place and the members of the local Society that one so well 

 qualified to speak for them was found and appointed to the pleas- 

 ant duty. One may, however, be inspired by his theme, and recog- 

 nizing, as I do, that there is much to speak for and about, a partial 

 explanation is reached for the aptly chosen words and pleasantly 

 arrayed thoughts. 



Up betimes this morning, in company with another one of your 

 guests to-day, I left the hotel at an early hour and took a ramble 



