20 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



lower walks of life are crowded with the surging, jostling mass ; but there 

 "is always room up higher." Prepare yourself by a joint education 

 of the mind and heart for it, and there will always be a place waiting 

 for you. 



In the morning of life, "flushed with health and vigor," you look 

 out hopefully upon the world. You see much that is desirable and worth 

 striving for. " You hear afar the din of the conflict and eagerly long for 

 the fray." But remember that the battle of life is a stern, long-continued 

 conflict, and that courage and perseverance are the requisites of success. 

 Enemies, numerous and determined, will oppose you. Ignorance, your 

 most bitter foe, "stalks boldly through the land and must be enlight- 

 ened." Public life must be reformed, or fearful dangers threaten. Pri- 

 vate life needs purifying and elevating. The mighty hosts of avarice and 

 ambition, represented by great combinations of wealth, will contest every 

 step of your progress. And, to add to your dismay, you will discover 

 the shores of life's treacherous stream strewn with the wrecks of those 

 who have gone down upon the shoals of ignorance and vice. 



There is a spirit of aceticism rife in the land, which is at war with all 

 the refinements and beauties of life, and prides itself in looking with 

 disdain upon the things which many of us consider so desirable, and 

 which so positively minister to our higher and nobler nature. 



We would say to these cold, unappreciative men (women intuitively 

 love the beautiful and are never found in this class) as the young Quakeress 

 said to her mother, when chided for loving the beautiful things of earth 

 so well, " He made the flowers and the rainbow." And surely He would 

 not have adorned them with such gorgeous colors had He not intended 

 that we should love and enjoy them. 



Says Downing: "It is not difficult to see how strongly horticulture 

 contributes to the development of local attachments. In it lies the most 

 powerful motive that civilized man has yet found to charm him to one 

 spot of earth. It transforms what was only a tame meadow and a bleak 

 landscape into an Eden of interest and delight. It makes all the differ- 

 ence between Araby the Blest and a pine barren. Do we need to say 

 more to prove that it is the panacea that really settles mankind?" 



Agricultural schools, the agricultural press and the various rural 

 organizations have accomplished much in this direction, but to this Soci- 

 ety is delegated the work of leading this movement, and bringing up to 

 a higher plane and into a better social life the mighty host of stalwart 

 tillers of the soil who crowd our noble Prairie State. 



It may not be inappropriate to briefly consider the methods by which 

 we hope to accomplish this desirable end. First, we must interest the 

 young people of the country in the beautiful art of horticulture. Let the 

 boys be made to understand that the "almighty dollar" is not the chief 

 end of life, and that they are not expected to labor in the field six days 

 in the week, from early dawn till night, with neither rest nor recreation; 

 but encourage and assist them to plant fruit trees, vines, groves and belts 

 of trees about the farm, and evergreens and shrubs in the yard or lawn. 

 Devote a piece of ground to a fruit and flower garden, and encourage the 



