TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 81 



SOME OF THE COURTESIES. 



\7ELC0MING ADDRESS OF MAYOR KIRKPATRICK — RESPONSES BY MESSRS. 



MONROE AND RBID, 



Several weeks ago I was requested by my friend, Mr, Helme, to wel- 

 come you to our city, and he supplemented his request by the observation 

 that it would be as fine a body of men and women as had ever assembled 

 in Adrian, and there would not be a bad man or woman among you. 



While some might be tempted to accept the last part of that state- 

 ment cum f/rano aalis, yet there can certainly be no good reason that it 

 should not be absolutely true. I believe that Drummond lays it down as 

 a fundemental law, that the great intention of environment is not to mod- 

 ify, but to sustain; and yet it is a matter of every-day observation that 

 our lives are being continually modified by our environment. With such 

 an hypothesis established, the deduction of Mr. Helme would be tenable. 

 You are living in one of the best states in the Union, you are now in one of 

 its very best counties, and surely you are in one of the nicest cities in the 

 state. While no man has any adequate reason to offer for being other 

 than a good man, it is possibly true that a horticulturist has less bar- 

 riers behind which to shield himself than any man in the world. I pre- 

 sume you have your trials, like other persons; but, at the same time, the 

 beneficent infiuences of your calling should be manifest in your everyday 

 life. It has often been a habit of mine to take up an apple, turn it over 

 and over, look at it carefully, and note its characteristics; look at its size 

 and contour; note its beautiful blending of color and outward attractive- 

 ness; speculate upon its kind or family, if you choose to call it so; think 

 of its flavor and palatability, and then compare it to the human family. 

 Blood and education will tell in the human family, and just so surely will 

 judgment in selection, and care, tell in the development of this, one of 

 our great industries. 



As there are certain races and families of men that can always be relied 

 upon, so there are certain kinds of fruit that can best be depended on. 

 Some are pleasing to the eye, but are poor keepers, like friends who 

 please you with their surface friendship but can not stand the winter of 

 trial. Some are more hardy, though not so pleasing at first, like friends 

 who have summered and wintered with us. Sometimes, again, the beau- 

 tiful colorings will remind you of a beautiful acquaintance. They may 

 be fair to look upon, but at heart altogether rotten. 



It is the same with flowers. It is hardly comprehensible that any man 

 or woman can work any length of time among flowers and not feel their 

 refining influence. The beautiful tints and fragrance must permeate 

 their whole lives. There are none of us but have a special liking for 

 some one kind of flower, and the sight of or aroma from it will arouse 

 some past and pleasant episode of our life. It has often been my privil- 

 ege to witness the joy brought to a sick room of a friend, by the gift of 

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