DECEMBER MEETING. 217 



trees. I should judge some of tliciu io 1)C from GO to 80 feet in lieight, with u 

 diameter of trunk 16 to 24 inches, Tiiey are now annually producing from ten 

 to tiiirty bushels per tree of clioicc fruit. ''IMicro tliey stand, scattered at 

 intervals, like towering sentinels looking into tlie face of that beautiful river, 

 the only remaining evidence of more than two centuries past and gone, yearly 

 testifying by their abundant fruitage to the thouglitfulness, wisdom, energy, 

 heroism and devotion to duty of a band of noble men, wliose total abnegation 

 of self and whoso cll'orts to improve tlie condition of tiie savages among whom 

 they came, lived, and died, have, and for ages to come must command tlie 

 admiration of all who learn their history. Thus have we evidence that he who 

 successfully introduces a choice variety of hardy fruit will confer and perpetuate 

 a blessing to his race that may be more lasting tluin monuments, or any work 

 of those who live contemporary with him. 



I am not sufiHciently conversant with the details of oi'ganization of this, or 

 of the various local societies in the State, of wliich I understand this is to be 

 the representative, to be able to know in what its cohesive power consists. I 

 cannot see that for all your expenditure of time and money any adequate com- 

 pensation can come to you in dollars. Society is filled with organizations, all 

 having relation to the requirements of man in some direction. Tliose having 

 for their objective point the education and enlightenment of the public con- 

 cerning those useful things that relate to the general good, are among the most 

 worth}', and ought to be commended and encouraged by all proper means. If 

 I understand the objects and purposes of this society, it presents no negative ; 

 no one decries its usefulness ; none try to thwart its efforts, for it seeks no 

 results that are antagonistic to any interest ; its great work in its broadest sense 

 is to do good ! the noblest occupation that God has given to man. 



If he rt'bo causes a blade of grass to grow where none grew before is a bene- 

 factor, greater is he who causes to grow a useful vegetable, a beautiful ilower or 

 plant, a fruitful vino or tree, where none grew l^eforo, or wlio increases the 

 variety and improves the quality of such products. The field that is open to us 

 in that direction is broad and expansive, limited only by the possibilities of finite 

 znmd. 



The most wonderful progress in the arts and sciences made within the last 

 oentury by all civilized nations, but most especially in our own country, instead 

 ■of giving, as some suppose, indications of approaching fullness, rather serves 

 to demonstrate to the more intelligent that they only presage the future before 

 us, as the first tints of morning foreshadow the coming day. So long as it 

 ■shall be possible for man to develop, expand, and improve tlie higher qualities 

 of his mind, so long will it be possible for him to usefully extend his researches, 

 and lay open and utilize the hidden treasures of nature that so silently, yet so 

 convincingly testify to those who decipher their meaning by the lexicon of 

 truth, to the existence of, and the surpassing wisdom of the Infinite Man, the 

 Creator, whose creation of worlds, even to their remotest ultimates, have rela- 

 tion to the qualities in man and the possibilities of his nature tlirough endless 

 time. 



It comes within common observation that the most useful inventions, that 

 the most Avonderful discoveries, and the ability to make them of ]n-actical use 

 to man, are almost wholly confined to those nations who represent the highest 

 types of civilization. Those, therefore, who apply their energies in that field 

 of labor that excites those qualities of the mind, the development of which 



28 



