THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 109 



forced himself fo the front where he won the esteem and favor of a great 

 nation because of his scholarly attainments, splendid judgment and un- 

 questioned integrity. 



Within each of us is a vital secret and that secret is that our own duties, 

 and the situations which call those duties forth, are of more importance 

 than are the duties and the situations that surround our neighbor; 

 hence we are prone to say that if we were in this man's place or that man's 

 we would not lack for many of the things that we are now deprived of. But 

 it is more than likely that if we were in his place we would be as he is, since 

 within his own breast he has a real vital feeling of the importance of his 

 duties and he looks upon us as we do upon him — with envy for the oppor- 

 tunities that we have. The young mining student went on and finally 

 became what his masters in school predicted he would be; but he did not 

 achieve his reputation in some foreign mining district, for there was a great 

 opportunity that had never been taken advantage of in his own state and, 

 after his friend had opened his eyes, he laid hold with an ambition that coukl 

 not help but succeed. If we say we have no opportunity for the preparation 

 of ourselves for horticultural work we should but think of the obstacles 

 overcome by Mr. Douglass. But a thought should make a free man blush 

 that he had made such a remark. 



What is wanted is not an opportunity for acquiring knowledge about 

 our work but a desire ; for if we have the latter the other will present itself. 

 If there is a hungering and a thirsting for information about soils, and 

 trees, and fruits, and marketing, and about life itself, nothing is so strong 

 or so large as to prevent the gaining of that information. But we wisely 

 and legitimately ask, how might such a desire be developed within a person 

 who finds no love in study and can see nothing about him that raises a question 

 in his mind. The following suggestion is offered: 



For the firs^ lesson let the prospective student take a tape line, go into 

 the orchard and measure the height of the heads of the apple or peach trees 

 above the ground, average up the resultant figures so that he can tell the 

 neighbor at the grocery store, the next time he is there, whether the heads 

 of the trees are eighteen inches above the ground or seven feet. For the 

 second lesson he will endeavor to discover if there is any difference in the 

 shape of the buds of the different varieties of fruit. Some will be found 

 to vary in shape from others, while in many varieties no difference can be 

 distinguished. However, what is found will make a good subject for the 

 audience at the corner store. The third week the average size of the trunks 

 of the trees in the orchard is determined and, again, a careful study of the 

 branching of the plants is made. By this time the student will have observed 

 some things that had not been noted before, and, observing them, he will 

 have awakened a desire to learn of these discoveries. He is less frequently 

 found on the cracker barrel than when complaining that he had no opportunity 

 for study and is often seen at home in quest of solutions for problems his 

 opened eyes have discovered. In some mysterious way the finding of a 

 few little facts with our own eyes and hands leavens our whole being and, 

 if not interrupted by some unusual obstacle, is sure to lead us on till we are 

 filled with information regarding the subject. You may have to drive 

 yourself for a few times, but soon you will be led by a yearning that will not 

 want for zeal, or ambition, or strength to attain the goal. 



Now such a beginning, if allowed to run its course, will result in the attain- 

 ing of two things — a general and a special education along the line of horti- 

 culture. Let us consider these together for a moment. 



