FLORAL DEPARTMENT. 46 



FLORAL DEPARTMENT. 



[From the Report of the Committee of the Hoosac -Valley Society.] 



To the Hoosac -Valley Agricultural Society the Commit- 

 tee on the Floral Department at the exhibition of 1880 have 

 the honor to present the following report : — 



The Society and the exhibiters in this department are 

 entitled to most hearty congratulations. The variety, selec- 

 tions, and condition of plants and flowers on exhibition, 

 evince a refinement of taste, skill in cultivation, and progress 

 in the art, gratifying in the present, and replete with promise 

 for the future. 



But your Committee are profoundly impressed with the 

 sentiment that this department is worthy of far more atten- 

 tion than it has hitherto received. 



The progress and revelations of floral science during the 

 past half-century ; its exact classifications, evincing the per- 

 fect harmony of infinite variety with one grand law of the 

 floral world : its vital connection with all upon which animal 

 life subsists ; its influence upon the atmosphere we breathe ; 

 its contributions to the food we consume ; its position as 

 the grand ornamental system of the earth, embellishing our 

 homes, our gardens, our fields, and our forests ; and its silent 

 and marvellous power in the education, cultivation, and 

 refinement of the mind, — give it a place scarcely second 

 in importance to any in the industries and studies of the 

 people. 



The Creator has, indeed, made nothing in vain ; but he 

 has, in an important sense, given to flowers the crowning- 

 position among his works. This superiority is seen in the 

 harmonious blending of beauty, fragrance, and utility. 

 What a sombre, gloomy world this would be without flow- 

 ers, or if all flowers had been made uniform in size, form, 

 and color ! 



Admiration of the beautiful is a God-given instinct, uni- 

 versal in intelligent beings ; and God has adapted the flora 



