THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 



INTKODUCTORY. 



Tlie interest in tlie Secretary's Portfolio, as published in the volumes for 

 1875 and 18TG, has been so outspoken and satisfactory tliat I have concluded, 

 in the volume for 1877, to give more attention to its compilation and classifica- 

 tion. To this end I have been saving, during the entire year, the best things 

 that have been said and written upon horticultural to^iics, that have come 

 within my reading and conversations, believing that the readers of this volume 

 will be glad to preserve them in this condensed and classified form for assistance. 



I believe with an old friend, who has succeeded admirably as a fruit grower, 

 that he who would succeed as a horticulturist must be in love with his pro- 

 fession ; he must adopt it as his business, and identify it with his life. He 

 must be a close observer, possess an indomitable will, and a large amount of 

 IDatience and perseverance. He must be a man who has learned to labor and 

 to wait — not to labor for a season to plant an orchard or vineyard, and then sit 

 down and wait with folded hands, expecting without further effort to gain 

 Pomona's fairest treasures; but to labor constantly and earnestly, believing 

 that the reward will come ; still I must add to this that it seems to me very 

 many mistakes may be avoided, and better and surer progress made by reading 

 the experience of our most successful horticulturists, from year to year, and 

 preserving this experience where it shall be an aid to us whenever we most 

 need it. 



Again, our reports fall into the hands of very many who pursue horticulture 

 as a pastime, — who desire to know all about the vocation as a matter of knowl- 

 edge without regard to profit. 



Of all the occupations of man, ours is the one which to him who desires it 

 can find the best combination of activity and repose. Some one has said of it : 



"It is not idleness; it is not stagnation; and yet it is perfect quietude. 

 Like all things mortal, it has its failures and its disappointments, and there are 

 some things hard to understand. But it is never without its rewards, and per- 

 haps if there were nothing but successful cultivation the aggregate enjoyment 

 would be less. It is better for the occasional shadows that come over the scene. 

 The discipline, too, is most salutary. It tries our patience and it tries our faith. 

 But even in the worst of seasons there is far more to reward and encourage 

 than to dishearten and disappoint. There is no day of the year without some- 

 thing to afford tranquil pleasure to the cultivator of flowers, sometliing on 

 which the mind may rest, — rest with profit and delight." 



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