324 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



beautiful. What is there more useful than sunshine? It also gives 

 the rose and the lily their beauty. Above the usefur comes that other 

 and better which owes itself to this same sun and shows the wisdom 

 of Providence. What is the lesson that we as horticultorists should 

 learn from this ? We should grow fruit with a full sound form and a 

 beautiful skin that it may sell in the market. Look at that table of 

 apples, the most attractive are not necessarily the best. Take the Ben 

 Davis as a sample, its flavor is somewhat flat, and yet it will not loose 

 much in comparison with some of the finer flavored kinds upon the 

 the table; one of its good qualities is its tine appearance. I remember 

 my first sight of the Ben Davis, and it has been feasted upon ever since 

 regardless of its lack of flavor. We do not give our attention all to the 

 useful fruits, but some of it to flowers, which lead to the higher life. 

 The majestic trees which line our plains are not valuable only because 

 they are useful. Their foliage and their forms appeal to this higher 

 sense of the ornamental, and the planting of trees is an instance of the 

 combining of the useful and the beautiful. We will not plant all water 

 maples, but will not discard it ; its fast growth makes it necessary- 

 We will go to the southeast for the sweet gum, one of the most beauti- 

 ful, and plant them alternately. During the entire summer the air is 

 fragrant with the odor that comes from these trees. Let us plant and 

 tastefully ornament our school grounds, and in every possible way 

 appeal to those higher elements in human nature which will lead us to 

 a higher and better life. The esthetic will reach upon the useful and 

 make it still more useful. I trust that soon the school houses now 

 standing alone upon the bleak prairie will have sheltered walks under 

 which the school boy and girl may enjoy their recesses and the shade» 

 I feel under great obligation for the contribution of trees you sent us at 

 Warrensburg. Some of your children may bask in the shade of those 

 trees— at least some of Missouri's children may have the benefit. 



