SOCIETY OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 267 



ence, which will not only live, but will have a prosperous career. 

 Two or three live members are often the nucleus around which to 

 draw in and establish a useful and valuable association. Yet some 

 portion of this true missionary element is an actual necessity in 

 every association that would live and prosper. 



In evidence of this, we wish to remark that for more than a 

 quarter of a century we have made it a jtoint to be a constant attend- 

 ant and an earnest worker in one or more of the very best local 

 societies within our reach, and we are quite sure that we never went 

 home from such society without feelin<^- that we were a wiser and a 

 better man. 



But why, we are asked, are you so anxious, at this late day, to 

 establish and maintain the a<i^ricultural, horticultural and floral as- 

 sociations? Are they not the oldest institutions of earth? Do we 

 not in fact read something of a small society of this kind in ''The 

 Garden of Eden?" Do you never tire of these things? 



We reply: Why tire of that which Bacon pronounced "The 

 greatest of all refreshments for the spirits of man," '* and without 

 which buildings! yea, even palaces! are but the grossest of handi- 

 works." 



It is a duty that every man, woman, boy or girl owes to the 

 world to be useful, and not only to themselves, but to all, to bet- 

 ter, not only their own social condition, but also the social condition 

 of all mankind. These local organizations lead us directly in this 

 path of duty. 



Again, the horticultural society is a constant necessity, diffus- 

 ing blessings upon every hand. They promote in numberless ways, 

 the bettering of our surroundings, the refinement of our tastes, the 

 higher cultivation of our haalthful gardens, luscious fruits and glad- 

 some flowers. They make us better and far more intelligent, and 

 when our Creator established "in Eden, to the eastward," the first 

 garden, it was certainly one of God's richest and best gifts to man; 

 one which will bless all the nations of the earth, who learn to do as 

 they were commanded, "cultivate and care for the garden." 



The local society confers its favors mostly upon the community 

 in which it exists. Its usefulness cannot be measured by mere 

 words. It awakens an ambition, which says: I will jiot endure this 

 constant comparison with my neighbor, when that comparison re- 

 flects upon myself, my taste, my energy, and my property, tlnd thus 

 it even comjjels the less thrifty neighbor to imitate the man whose 

 whose surroundings are neat, beautiful and clean, and whose gar- 

 dens and orchards are found to be teeming with vegetables, fruits 

 and flowers. 



The local society is a great educator, and the lessons of nature, 

 gathered in practical experience, and imparted toothers through the 

 discussions of the society, are replete with more wisdom than we can 

 find in all the lore of the sages; and the boy or girl who plants 



