328 State Board of Agriculture, &c. 



I have sometimes been amnsed at the novel idea suggested 

 by some of our farmers of the impropriety of pruning, shap- 

 ing or fashioning our fruit or ornamental trees, for fear we, 

 should rob nature of her high privilege of adorning herself 

 in her own style and beauty. And to adhere strictly to 

 these false notions, not of unfrequent occurrence, would be 

 to divest man of reason and sound connnon sense, the very 

 endowed elements ot our nature. To leave the plant 

 unaided by the help of man, to be controlled only by 

 nature's laws, would be to allow its deformity to become 

 obnoxious to man, as well as to Him who established these 

 laws. 



With equal propriety might we leave the children of our 

 care to their own inclinations, without proper training, with 

 the view that God created them and therefore we must not 

 meddle with His works, lest we be found sinning against 

 Him by undertaking the task of finishing up that which He 

 had left incomplete. But we take a broader and a more 

 elevated view of God's creation, and believe He had a wise 

 and holy purpose in the formation of man,- to be placed 

 here to pssist nature in carrying out these fundamental prin- 

 ciples that underlie all hope of success, both in the vegeta- 

 ble and animal kingdoms. 



Allowing the above suggestions to be true, man by com- 

 pulsion is thrown under weighty responsibihty for the faith- 

 ful discharge of his duty, not only for a 'thorough cultiva- 

 tion and training of his ofispring in liis own house, but for 

 a tliorough cultivation and training of both plant and tree ; 

 the latter of which, if properly done, will not only beautify 

 the home of every laboring man, but will furnish food and 



