180 Missouri State Horticultural Society. 



rural improvements and beautifying our land is attracting increased 

 attention and must claim a due share of encouragement from our 

 horticultural societies. The labors of such societies should not be 

 confined to the cultivation of the finer fruits, flowers and trees. 

 and adornment of city and country homes, but the ornamenting 

 should extend to public institutions and wide-spread neighbor- 

 hoods, including state and court houses, colleges and public school 

 grounds, boulevards and public highways, parks, landscape gar- 

 dening, cemeteries, &c. 



Our most valuable American work on Landscape Gardening 

 has been produced by the much lamented A, J. Downing, Esq.. 

 who thirty-five years ago furnished us the fourth edition, and since 

 his death we are indebted to Henry Winthrop Sargent, Esq., for 

 the ninth edition of that invaluable work. Thus the fine art in 

 horticulture is being advanced Avith the refinements of the age in 

 which we live. 



To Mr. Downing belongs the honor of laying out the Smith- 

 sonian and public grounds at "Washington City. 



" The Central Park. Xew York City, being the most impor- 

 tant of the kind that has been undertaken in America," had its 

 origin through the advocacy of the ''horticulturist" urging its 

 necessity and setting forth its advantages. Since itsestablishment. 

 it has grown in favor and importance commensurate with the 

 growth and is the pride of the city and nation. Many of our 

 other cities have finely ornamented public and private grounds that 

 will vie with the example mentioned, but we must be excused from 

 attempting any description. It is all important in any undertaking 

 to commence aright. The planning and laying out parks, pleasure 

 grounds, cemeteries, etc., should be the work of a scientific, 

 practical landscape gardener, not merely the work of a civil 

 engineer, but must combine sylvan, graceful, or picturesque abstract 

 of natural beauty. The grounds of our state and court houses as 

 well as colleges and jDublic schools should be artistically laid out 

 and set with suitable shade trees, shrubs and flowers. 



This will have much to do in the education of our people by 

 the way of example. Public or common schools are receiving 

 attention in this way in some of the states and others should 

 emulate their example. 



Through the influence of the Michigan State Horticultural 

 Society, many of the grounds around the common schools have 

 been ornamented with appropriate shade trees, and the teachers 

 co-operating and ( with the aid of scholars,) have contributed much 



