120 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Report From "The Southwest" of Springfield. 



The 38th annual meeting of the Missouri State Horticultural So- 

 ciety was held at Neosho, December 3, 4 and 5. President Evans and 

 Secretary Goodman were promptly on the ground and so was Treas- 

 urer Nelson. The first session was held Tuesday evening. Miss Pat- 

 terson gave a piano solo. Invocation by Rev. C. C. Wood. A double 

 quartette sang "Descending Light." 



Owing to the sickness of Mayor Sherman, the address of welcome 

 was made by Dr. Wood, and most eloquent and )earned was his im- 

 promptu speech. He said a man owes more to mother earth than to 

 all the other elements. A man is an ingrate indeed if he forgets to 

 consider her offerings. Horticulture is the most enobling of the arts. 

 Since Almighty God made man the tiller of the soil, agriculture is first 

 in importance. There are unmistakable indications that man is return- 

 ing to the work he was first appointed to do. The speaker referring 

 to this latitude said : "The highest civilizations have been under a 

 vertical sun. The populations that lived along the Mediteranean sea 

 more than eighteen centuries ago were far advanced in civilization. 

 The Vandals hurled themselves against the people of the Mediteranean 

 sea because they wanted to enjoy the climate. Never has a Websteri 

 a Milton or a great captain come from the frozen regions of the north. 

 I look forward for grander results than we have seen in the develop- 

 ment of the race. More and more will men live upon vegetables and 

 fruit. Bring man into a more southern climate and he will lay aside 

 the food of the prize-fighter and the tiger for natural food. Possibly, 

 there is no part of the earth so favored as this locality to which we 

 welcome you tonight. Our soil will produce anything from a petrified 

 man to a — national question — as genial as any upon which the sun 

 shines — a rich soil, and the climate of Southern Italy— a sky as blue 

 as that which hung over the land of AlcibJades. I welcome you in the 

 name of the mayor, in the name of our colleges and schools, and in the 

 name of the fair ladies who will do their best to break your hearts." 



The eloquent college president was loudly applauded. 



Miss Ames sang beautifully a solo, "When the Heart is Young." 



President Evans' address appears on another page. 



Mrs. E. S. Curtice read a well written and humorous paper, in 

 which she recorded her experience in cultivating flowers and vege- 

 tables. 



