136 TKANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Therefore if we have neglected anything which would ma- 

 terially advance 3^our interests and add anything to the pleasure of 

 your visit here, you will cheerfully overlook our neglect when you 

 learn that you have been entertained by a cold corpse of nearly four 

 years' standing. Certainly I should be less than human were I to 

 neglect to say that my heart swells with emotion, and, in fact, 

 nearly " busts " wide open, when I think of the happy hours which 

 we have spent in your company, and that those hours of pleasure 

 have also been hours of profit to every one attending your sessions 

 there can be no doubt. I certainly believe that many pleasant and 

 profitable acquaintances have been formed with our people here 

 which will not soon or easily be severed. 



As for myself (and my heart aches as I refer to it) there has 

 been but one occurrence to mar the pleasure of this occasion, and as 

 I referred to that in your afternoon session I will not again notice 

 it, except to say that to pas's the remainder of this life under the 

 shadow of the title of '' Dr.," when I do not know the difference 

 between a bread pill and a Yankee pumpkin, is an affliction which 

 will certainly over-balance my mind and drive me to certain de- 

 struction. 



Through your discussions here I have learned that the ups and 

 downs of the horticulturist in this state are many, not only so with 

 the orchardist, but the market gardener as well. .But a short stretch 

 of my memory carries me back to the time when I cheerfully sang: 



I would like to be a gardener, 



And with the gardeners stand; 

 With a rake upon my shoulder, 



And a hoe within my hand. 



But, alas, strange dream, how fleeting are the early joys of this 

 life; how soon did a few short years' experience change the short 

 meter of that song into the doxological tune like the following: 



I would rather be a banker, 



And rake the shekels in, 

 Than to be a market gardener 



A paying out the tin. 



But as this appears to agree so nearly with the experience of so 

 many of you, I will not continue the subject further. 



And now, ladies and gentlemen of this society, in conclusion I 

 will say that in you I recognize the bone and "sinners " (or, pardon 

 me, sinews) of our free government. 



If any man or woman, trained in the art of horticulture, is ever 

 found arranged upon the side of wrong, he or she should be exhibited 

 as a curiosity, and the manager of such a horticultural exhibit would 

 soon amass an independent fortune. 



And now, in bidding you farewell, I will say that if your stay 

 among us has been as pleasant to you as it has to us, it will ever be 

 a bright spot in your checkered lives. 



