306 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



And here lies the rub. We dislike to plant unless we are certain to enjoy. 

 We are selfish ; we plant for ourselves ; we do not plant for posterity. 

 What care we for the future ? How unlike, in this respect, to our ances- 

 tors of Old England. And yet we boast of progress in morals, patriotism 

 and in the humanities; as if there could be such progress while retaining, 

 in all its fullness, our native selfishness. Unless the beauty charms our 

 eyes, and the cooling shade delights our senses, we grudge every moment 

 and every cent devoted to its production. Let us take on a little public 

 spirit ; let us " assume a virtue, though we have it not ;" let us do some- 

 thing for the coming generations ; let us lay the foundation of a beautiful 

 park, although our children's children only may enjoy the blessing in its 

 fullness. 



, An interesting discussion followed the reading of this paper, in 

 which Messrs. Comstock, Dieterich, Hale, Lanphere, Bateman, Weaver,. 

 Humphrey, Hunt and Arnold engaged, which, for want of space, we are 

 obliged to omit. 



MARCH MEETING. 



At a meeting of this Society, held at the residence of T. J. Hale, 

 March 6, 1877, Prof. Standish submitted the following report, which 

 was ordered to be included in this report : 



REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, HELD IN 



GALESBURG, DECEMBER, 1 8 76. 



Having been appointed to represent this Society, on all proper occa- 

 sions and at all proper times, during the meeting of the State Horticul- 

 tural Society recently held in this city, I would beg leave to submit the 

 following : 



The State Society met, according to previous announcement, Tues- 

 day, December 12th, at 10 o'clock, A. M., in a hall in the Union Hotel, 

 selected for that purpose. The hall, it seems to me, was not a suitable 

 one for such an occasion. It was secluded and unknown, even to our 

 own people. There were instances of persons making an attempt to 

 attend the meetings, but were unable to find the hall. For all such gath- 

 erings a central location is preferable, and generally meetings held in by- 

 places prove to be failures. Do I mean by this that the meeting of the 

 State Horticultural Society here was a failure? By no means. In very 

 many respects it was a success. In other respects it might have been 

 better. 



The reports of the different committees on General Horticulture for 

 the different districts throughout the State were highly interesting and 

 instructive. The successes and failures of the past season in fruit culture 



