16 * Missonri State Horticultural Society. 



positions of the great masters in painting. Its divisions are many, 

 and each of these departments requires to be separately studied be- 

 fore it can be managed so as to combine utility and comfort witli 

 ornament and recreation. 



The many beautiful lawns, gardens, nurseries and our cemeteries 

 bear testimony to the fact of the love of Horticulture that has taken 

 deep root in this city. 



We do not pretend to be adepts iu the art as yet; but neverthe- 

 less we have made considerable progress in it. This taste is 

 infectious and is fast spreading, both in town and country. Your 

 meeting to-day will add .renewed interest in it, and the discussion 

 which if will evoke is calculated to throw much light on all matters 

 appertaining to the knowledge of it. In all material interests 

 Springfield has kept up with the march of progi-ess ; but in the 

 matter of public parks our gesthetics are somewhat deficient, but 

 it is a want that can not long be endured by a population such as 

 Springfield now contains. 



Congress has appropriated a large sum for the construction of 

 a road to our National Cemetery, some four miles distant. When 

 this beautiful drive is completed it will open the way to other im- 

 provements, and public parks will naturally follow. Horticulture 

 will then expand into a large scale in Springfield; and with its cli- 

 mate and beauty of location, we hope to indulge in some of the 

 charms of landscape scenery. Missouri has made wonderful pro- 

 gress in this art. I visited Tower Grove' Park at St. Louis, a few 

 days ago for the first time, and I was amazed to find a driving park 

 that rivals anything of the sort that I have seen in either England 

 or France, but Shaw's Garden did not come up to my expectation; 

 it is too crowded and shows signs of neglect. Fruit culture in this 

 county and adjoining counties, is advancing rapidly as the broad 

 acres under apple trees in the vicinity of this city will bear testi- 

 mony; and as fruit culture and flower culture are departments that- 

 will more immediately engage your attention, still I have ventured 

 to dwell on Horticulture' in its literal sense, far-reaching as it is, 

 and I trust the day is not far distant when the subject, in its broad- 

 est sense will receive your attention; and that Missouri, presenting 

 as she does, the most inviting field for an indulgence in all that is 

 beautiful in the art, will give evidence of that desire which her peo- 

 ple now feel to excel in the pj-oduction of fruits, flowers and vega- 

 tables, to cultivate the same taste for surrounding their homes with 

 well kept lawns, and the planting of ornamental trees and shrubs 

 which lend so much enchantment to home life. 



