78 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



close observer of their work for the last ten years. There is a 

 tremendous push in these last days, in the direction of new varie- 

 ties; in everything which is grown. They are always offered at 

 speculative prices, and millions of dollars are annually expended 

 by our people for which no adequate returns are received. A 

 true minded nurseryman will stand as a protector of his custom- 

 ers rather than a plunderer. It is possible for them to let slip 

 from time to time things of doubtful value. If we get sold a 

 little occasionally, we must look upon it as a contribution to the 

 general expense attending the production of new varieties. I be- 

 lieve that the interests of Wisconsin horticulture rest in worthy 

 hands — that all that is good among the new varieties will be 

 sifted out from among the worthless, and placed within the reach 

 of all. 



Mr. Plumb thought the law of adaptation, as presented in this 

 paper, was a very important subject. It was a most interesting 

 study to follow out the manifestations of it, seen in the natural 

 world ; as in the adaptation of vegetable growth to soil and cli- 

 mate, the kind, character and form of growth, all adapting them- 

 selves to the conditions in which they are placed, and the same 

 conditions favoring the same development wherever they are 

 found. There is evidence on every side that the Creator of all 

 was strictly guided by and has observed it in all His works. Man 

 was the first to disregard this law, and to follow his own idea of fit- 

 ness, his own will, and hence came discord and ruin ; and to-day 

 it is to the disregard of this law that much of the difficulty we 

 encounter, many of our failures, are to be attributed. We try to 

 raise varieties of grain and fruit ; we set out trees and plants, 

 where the soil, the climate, and other conditions are opposed or 

 at least unfavorable to perfection of their growth. We should 

 study the law of adaptation in all we do, and thus be in harmony 

 with nature and with nature's God. 



President Smith said this law of adaptation was a very practi- 

 cal subject, and had a direct bearing on success or failure in our 

 work. All will do well to consider it carefully. There must be 

 an adaptation in the crop raised to the market, to the climate, 

 soil and place, to the time of planting and method of culture, etc. 



