D TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



■whatever we may have learned of our beautiful art, we have scarcely reached the 

 threshold of the temple that eushrines her mysteries. 



Another question suggested by the destructive frost of last spring maybe worthy of 

 a notice here, and that is, whether anything can be done, and if so, what, to protect our 

 fruits against these sudden and untimely changes of temperature. Years ago, Mr. 

 Lawrence Young, a very intelligent horticulturist, of Jefferson county, Kentucky, pub- 

 lished an account of some experiments made by him for the protection of big 

 fruit from late frosts, by circles of fire around his orchard. The results were satisfac- 

 tory, and the experiment not very costly. Perhaps it would not be practicable to 

 counteract the effect of winter freezes; but my belief is that, in the great majority of 

 instances of spring frost, the loss of the crop might be prevented by artificial heat. 



Generally the mischief is done in a single night, and very often, as was the case last 

 spring, the degree of cold is barely sufficient to destroy the quarter part of the germs. 

 The fact that so many of them, especially of the hardier varieties, escaped injury, 

 proves that a very slight elevation of the temperature would have given a full crop of 

 all the leading fruits. That this could have been secured by fires judiciously placed in 

 the orchards, can scarcely be doubted, and at an expense very trifling in comparison with 

 the value of the fruit saved. 



It is a matter of congratulation that the Industrial University, in the origination and 

 organization of which this Society has taken so deep an interest, is now fairly started 

 upon its career of usefulness. We have reason to hope that it may do much for Hor- 

 ticultural Science, and we have a right to claim that it shall devote a reasonable share 

 of its means to this department. It has already determined upon a liberal plan of 

 fruit, forest and ornamental tree-planting, embracing the most comprehensive range of 

 varieties possible in the climate in which the University is situated. It needs and I be- 

 lieve deserves the hearty support and encouragement of every lover of practical science. 



We may also congratulate ourselves that our State Legislature, at its last session, 

 recognized the importance of our Society, and the value of its labor, in the appropria- 

 tion of $2,000 per annum for the past and the present year. This appropriation has 

 greatly added to our means of usefulness, by enabling us to publish fuller reports of 

 our proceedings, and to give them a much wider circulation. It has also enabled us to 

 give great efficiency to our Committee, ad interim, from whose intelligent observations 

 and investigations we may expect the most important results. 



Gentlemen, we require all the aids to a more perfect knowledge of the various inter- 

 esting: and important subjects connected with the pursuit in which we are engaged, of 

 which it is possible to avail ourselves. For though gardening was the very earliest of all 

 human occupations, and has engaged, through all the history of our race, a large share 

 of attention, it must be admitted that we know but little of the mysterious processes 

 of vegetable growth and decay. It is a hopeful indication, however, that so many acute 

 and intelligent minds are earnestly striving to penetrate these mysteries. It shows us 

 that the spirit of inquiry, so characteristic of our time, is not satisfied with the imper- 

 fect light we already have, and is not content to acknowledge itself unequal to the task 

 of advancing to a higher plane of scientific attainment. And a loftier dignity is added 

 to our profession, in the fact that its successful practice involves, not mere manual 

 operations alone, but the exercise of the very highest power of observation and thought 



