STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Ill 



Father Shepherd said that it was his fortune to be thrown in early- 

 life upon the verge of civilization, where there were not the opportunities 

 which we now have for education ; and, knowing the importance of these 

 things, he had endeavored to help build up schools and colleges where 

 these branches of natural science might be studied. He would soon step 

 into the grave, but work done in this direction would live. His working 

 days were about over ; he had lived about the allotted time of man's life. 

 He gave us his benediction and good-will. "I hope," he said, in closing, 

 " you will accept my good wishes for your welfare." 



Why ignorance prevails — the real why for the prevailing ignorance of 

 and the popular aversion to this subject of Botany — is this : 



1. It is intentional ignorance. We mean to give natural science 

 studies the go-by, that we may have more time to cram the mind with 

 abstractions and "dead languages." A boy will commence the study of 

 grammar and Latin at the age of ten years; his elements of Botany and 

 Zoology and Geology are shoved away up into the high school or college 

 studies. The pupil is taught to believe that these are incomprehensible 

 to him as a child. 



2. The second reason is, it is the fault in our educational system. 

 Those who have arranged our curriculem of study did not sufficiently con- 

 sider ih&relative values of "knowledges." We clothe the minds of our 

 children as we clothe their bodies, in the prevailing fashion. We do 

 not wisely consider the things that concern us most to know. Our boys 

 must have a smattering of Latin and Greek, not that they may read the 

 great authors in the original — they can't read their diplomas on com- 

 mencement day — but that they may appear in the role of educated gen- 

 tlemen. Our daughters must study French and Italian, not for any use- 

 ful purpose, but because they would be ashamed to own the fact that they 

 were in ignorance of these things. Knowledge that brings applause is 

 made to predominate over knowledge that aids the arts in life. It is,, 

 therefore, a vice in our educational system that fails to put that first 

 which comes first — that first which concerns us most to know. 



A third cause of the unpopularity of the study of Botany is the tech- 

 nical terms. As Prof. McAfee said, common people, boasting only of 

 common sense, can hardly see why " aculeate " is better than " prickly,'' 

 or why "adsurgent'' is better than "ascending," or " alabastrum " is 

 better than " flower buds ;" and was he not right when he affirmed boldly 

 that " technicalities in any science or art are a direct bar to the aquisition 

 of knowledge?" In fact, one chief object in investigating these terms 



