268 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. . 



respect of the well-meaniDg people of this State. The difiQculty we an- 

 ticipate is the one we encounter in every measure of this kind. It is 

 that the voice of the people will not be heard. I shall never forget 

 the difficulty we had in getting our pure butter bill incorporated into 

 the laws of the State. 



So, I am afraid, if the demand be made that a hand book on hor- 

 ticultural knowledge be taught in such public schools of this State as 

 desire it, the wish of the people will be denied or granted just as the 

 design of the politician is served. I hope I shall be mistaken in this. 

 How expensive it is to establish a Horticultural Department in the 

 State University before it is allowed in the primary departments of the 

 State schools. Not one can attend it there where 1,000 should attend 

 it here. But amid all these irregularities, I entertain the hope when 

 the time comes, as it soon will come, when horticulture and similar 

 studies will seek to displace ancient geography, mythology, the dead 

 languages and dead faiths of the dead past, the door will be ajar and 

 our boys and girls will be allowed to study by the light of nature's 

 sunshine that which will aid them in raising the fruit foods of the peo- 

 ple and beautifying the homes of the future. As I travel over this 

 State and see the expensive mistakes made in fruit-growing by even 

 those who can read Latin and apply geometry, as I see the want of 

 horticultural knowledge in the illy ornamented homes and public 

 grounds, as I think of my own mistakes caused by my inadequate in- 

 formation at the time I set out my fruit and laid off my grounds, I am 

 persuaded to toil by night and by day to push the work of collecting 

 the necessary facts and dressing them in an attractive style for the 

 school children of our State. This subject needs your thought and 

 friendship. It is the best work you ever undertook. 



How very different from one who does not know, will a man or 

 woman who is familiar with the best varieties of trees, flowers and 

 fruits, who knows about the best locations and modes of cultivation, 

 who is acquainted with the terms used in horticulture and floriculture, 

 who can point out the fungus growths and injurious insects — I say, 

 how different will he go about developing the orchard resources of his 

 State or beautifying his own grounds. 



What a lost world the whole subject of horticulture is to a soul 

 that knows nothing of it. What a source of constant blessing it is to 

 him who seeks among its hidden beauties and intelligently holds con- 

 verse with the charming life and beauty with which nature has clothed 

 the plant and flower and fruit. 



If a book treating upon these things is illustrated with the fine 

 cuts used by the artists of today, the whole subject will be charmingly 



