ILLINOIS HOETICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 209 



the end of the year. I ani afraid that they will balance the wrong 

 way. It may be possible that he may have some satisfaction in 

 looking around and seeing the amount of work he has done. If 

 so, he can certainly find pleasure where I can find none. Work has 

 always been more of a necessity than a ])leasure with me. Taking 

 the season through, so far, it has been very much like fighting a for- 

 lorn hope against a foregone conclusion. 



But, Mr. President, we must console ourselves for tlie present 

 with the idea that there is nothing so bad but that it might have 

 been worse. It may be false philoso])liy, but it is better than 

 grumbling. Should the horticulturist come out with bare bones he 

 has the satisfaction of knowing that the express comi)anies and com- 

 mission men have done fairly well by his efforts. 



This is the dark side. If we carefully examine our surround- 

 ings and draw fair coiujiarisons we may not be in such a l)ad fix after 

 all. The horticulturists as a class have lived as well as other labor- 

 ing men similarly situated, and if we are able to keep our heads up 

 in seasons like the present, why cannot we look forward and expect 

 better times? It is very likely that for a time, at least, Ave will be 

 apt to get rid of a great deal of unhealthy competition that we have 

 had to contend with for some time past, and may be benefitted by 

 serving one term in the School of Adversity. 



In regard to the " Mistakes of Horticulture"' there are certainly 

 plenty of them, but they are hard to describe, many of them are so 

 interwoven with the mistakes of others that it is almost impossible 

 to tell where they begin or where they end. Where was the mis- 

 take made when a person sent for a grape vine, and after nursing it 

 carefully for nearly a year, it turned out to be a blackberry })lant? 

 Certainly not with the horticulturist — and such a thing has l)een. 

 Where is the mistake made when the poor, trusting fruit y,rower, 

 having carefully tended his plants for ten long months, i)icks his 

 fruit with great care, and is most especially careful to make it look 

 nice on top, ships it to the commission mnii, or liritigs it to town, 

 taking the jtrevious day's prices as his guarantee, and possibly doubl- 

 ing his shipments in consequence, and, after .celling in town, or per- 

 haps waiting for weeks or months for his ship to come in, she arrives, 

 or not, as the case may be, loaded principally with ballast? That 

 was not the horticulturist's mistake. 



There are, however, Mr. President, mistakes made by the h(jrti- 

 culturist, but I think the majority of them are made in ])lanting. 

 You may plant kinds of fruit that will inevitably i)ick your pocket. 

 It is surely a question of time when a man will fail unless he re- 

 places them with better kinds. 



As it is likely that there will be reports on this subject from 

 abler pencils than mine, I will close, simply adding that in thp 

 future, as in the past, it will be the men with brains in their head 

 that will succeed. 



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