244 TEANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTUKAL 



agreeable. Transplanting, cultivating, gathering and preparing for 

 market are not above the physical capacity of the women and chil- 

 dren, and the remuneration they receive is no inconsiderable item in 

 every community where horticulture is carried on. The fruit busi- 

 ness in this village is only in its infancy, but in the few years in 

 which it has been in existence a comparatively large amount of 

 money has passed into the hands of the nearly helpless classes for 

 their labor in the fruit-gardens; and who can estimate how much of 

 comfort and civilization has gone into many humble homes through 

 this one unpretending instrumentality. 



What will the future bring forth ? If we may judge by the 

 past, we may reasonably expect much. The fourth century has not 

 expired since the few people who then occupied this land lived by the 

 chase, and such rude agriculture as the women could conduct by 

 hand labor. Many acres were thus required for the support of one 

 individual. The iiopulation is now numbered by millions, and is rap- 

 idly increasing. Thus far, the capacity of the soil to furnish sus- 

 tenance has become developed in an equal ratio. But how may it be 

 one thousand or two thousand years hence? Wars wdll probably be 

 fewer; pestilence, perhaps, conquered by science, and the average of 

 life lengthened. How many inhabitants will there be, and how will 

 they live? One acre may be required to contribute a support to 

 many persons. How can it be done? Not by the hunter, for his 

 avocation is nearly gone now. A boy cannot hunt a rabbit on most 

 of the lands in this vicinity, without incurring the penalty of the 

 law, just as would be the case on the estate of an English nobleman. 

 No Nimrod supplies our tables from the forest, but our purveyor of 

 mutton-chop and porter-house steak is strictly a man of business, and 

 fast becoming a man of science. 



Our baker and miller are no longer found combined in the per- 

 son of a half-clad woman pounding her own corn in a mortar, but 

 our bakers are almost artists in their line, and our millers are becom- 

 ing like princes. 



Agriculture has magnified itself through iniproviement in varieties 

 of seed, improvement in manner of ' cultivation, improvement in 

 knowledge of the soil, its requirements and capabilities, improvement 

 in methods of securing the products, and vast improvement in the 

 manner of distributing them, till now it would seem to have nearly 

 reached the limit of progress. Can it promise to feed and cloche the 

 coming multitude, whose eager footsteps even now almost seem to 

 fall upon our ears? I fear it cannot hopefully do so. Where, then, 

 is the hope of the future? What is to prevent our descendants 

 from starving like over-crowded animals in a pen? In my humble 

 opinion it lies in that one word, horticulture. 



This prairie country, with, its wonderful wealth of soil, its 

 unparalleled power to resist the effect of extremes of heat, of rain 

 or drouth, is all to be utilized to an extent not now dreamed of. 



