TITE ANNUAL MEETING. 163 



roots, takes into consideration the soil, location and any other circumstances 

 that might probably affect it. With the facts thus obtained he may with some 

 certainty determine the cause of tlie trouble, but must not be too sure of it 

 without more than one instance. Speaking in general we would say, be not too 

 liasty in coming to a conclusion or forming an opinion. 



Good habits of observation can not be acquired except by long study and 

 close application. They will call attention to many things that an inex- 

 perienced man would not notice. 



The fruit grower in order to succeed must be up with the times; he must 

 not only pay attention to tlie producing of iirst-class fruit, but after ho has 

 raised it, he must be acquainted with the markets and know how to dispose of 

 it to the best advantage. He should strive to be a good observer, make good 

 use of the knowledge thus obtained, and he may be sure he is on the road to 

 success. 



ESSAY BY MR. HAIGII. 



K. Haigh, Jr., of South Haven, presented an essay upon the same topic, 

 which we give in full: 



All knowledge comes originally from observation. The discovery of all new 

 facts, the establishment of all general principles, all progress, all advance- 

 ment, all improvement is the result of observation. 



The natural tendency of the human mind toward observation is evidenced in 

 the earliest manifestations of intelligence. 



Not only is the mind drawn by its own inclinations, but the whole economy 

 of nature and all manifestations of its phenomena are such as to draw the 

 mind and attract the attention. 



^'If there is anything clearly manifest," said the lamented Jacob Abbot, 

 '^of God's intentions in regard to employment for man, it is that he should 

 spend a very considerable portion of his time upon earth in acquiring knowl- 

 edsre — knowledsre in all the extent and variety in which it is offered to human 

 powers." The whole economy of nature is such as to allure man to the inves- 

 tigation of it, and the whole structure of his mind is so framed as to qualify 

 him for the work. If now a person begins in early life, and even as late as 

 twenty, and makes it a part of his constant aim to acquire knowledge — 

 endeavoring every day to learn something he did not know before, or to fix 

 somethinsf in the mind that was not before familiar — he will make an almost 

 insensible but a most rapid and important progress. 



The field of his intellectual vision will widen and extend every year. His 

 powers of mind as well as his attainments will be increased ; and as he can see 

 more extensively, so he can act more effectually, every month than he could in 

 the preceding. 



Education is valuable far more for the discipline of mind that produces cor- 

 rect habits of observation and the power to apply general principles than for 

 the simple facts stored up in the memory. Wiiile observation is an important 

 element in the acquisition of all knowledge, in fiuit rai-ing it is much more 

 important, because of the uncertain elements continually affecting it. In 

 many branches of science all uncertain elements can be eliminated, and a defi- 

 nite result becomes inevitable ; but in all mattei'S involving vegetable growth 

 the uncertain influences of soil, climate, season, excess or lack of moisture, 

 insect ravages, and many other things, render the establishment of general 

 principles the result only of close and long, continual observation. The mea- 



