228 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



That this growing taste and desire for the pure and the beautiful 

 reaches all, may be seen in the bit of velvet green on the small city 

 lot, or the single vine growing in space too limited for aught be- 

 side; or the few blooming plants in the sunny window of the most 

 humble cottage. 



As most beautiful and convincing proofs of progress, we point 

 ■with pride to Horticultural Hall at our state fairs — 2,000 square 

 feet of table room, well filled in years of scarcity, and in years of 

 plenty crowded and heaped up with luscious and magnificent fruits. 

 Truly this is a pleasing picture for all, and in its production all have 

 been co-workers; but to the members of the Horticultural Society, 

 who have regarded this as their especial work and mission, this 

 measure of success is peculiarly gratifying. It has cost us hard 

 work; it has cost us years of time and no small amount of money, 

 all of which it has been a pleasure for us to give. 



This hasty glance at successful progress may convey the impres- 

 sion that full success is now assured; that the battle is fought and 

 further effort unnecessary; but to this bright picture there is 

 another side. The truth is, our work is only commenced, and that 

 its rapidly accumulating wants and requirements are passing be- 

 yond our individual means and unaided strength. As a state, 

 ■where we have one orchard we need ten or twenty. For every 

 family using the small fruits freely, there are twenty to whom their 

 Hberal use is unknown. In locations where the larger fruits fail, 

 the culture and use of these smaller fruits may and mtistbe made to 

 fill their place. In the adornment of cemeteries and parks, it costs 

 little more to make them models of landscape planting instead of 

 what they now are. Instead of the lonesome and scattered ever- 

 greens of to-day we must multiply them by thousands. Our 

 occasional green lawn or show of window plants we would make 

 the rule instead of the exception, and would plant a vine or a bloom- 

 ing shrub everywhere. 



To prove that these things are not only desirable but vastly 

 profitable, please each one take some familiar farm or home; strip 

 it of all these adornments; then invest it with an average amount 

 of the same; then clothe it with all the luxurious comfort and hap- 

 piness that you believe these things may bring to it, and make 

 your own estimate of its different values in the three conditions 

 from the standpoint of true happiness and of dollars and cents. 



