94 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTEAL SOCIETY. 



REPORT BY M. Gr. KERN OF ST. LOUIS, JUNE 7, 1886. 



J. C. Evans, Esq., President Missouri State horticulture Society : 



Dear Sir — It aflbrds me great pleasure to lay before the mem- 

 bers of the Horticultural Society the plan of Warren sburg j^ormal 

 School grounds, which I have tinished hurriedly in time for the meet- 

 ing at Louisiana. 



I am happy to see the time arrived when the leaders in the horti- 

 cultural industries of the State take a lively interest in the ornamental 

 mission of trees, shrubs and tlowers, and when the efforts of this so- 

 ciety will energetically be directed towards the decoration and im- 

 provement of the grounds of the leading educational institution of the 

 State. This is a timely and noble work, of the results of which the 

 society may justly feel proud before many years have passed by. A 

 knowledge of our most valuable timber trees and of the most desira- 

 ble material for the ornamentation of grounds is indispensably neces- 

 sary before we can exi)ect that the best kinds will be generally planted. 



Our nursery men know full well how difficult it is to sell and to 

 introduce a variety, however valuable it may be, if unknown to the 

 public, they know likewise that the comparative smallness of the trade 

 in ornamental stock is in a great measure directly due to the lack of 

 acquaintance with the most desirable kinds. How imi)ortant is it there- 

 fore that this species of horticultural knowledge, (or as some wish in 

 called — science.) should be most liberally promoted by this society, and 

 what more practical mode of dissemination can be selected than your 

 progressive project to introduce the best collection of shrubbery into 

 the school grounds of the land, by which the youth will be brought in 

 daily contact with the most beautiful trees and shrubs, and with an 

 artistic or tasteful system of grouping and planting of this material. 



One popular delusion entertained by many well meaning people 

 must, however, first be exposed and abolished if in any way possible. 

 This is the custom or rather the rage of filling up a place, private or 

 public, with a mass of the commonest trees and bushes, and rejoicing 

 in their rampant growth. After a few years, such places present that 

 sterotyped look of confusion and excess of shade, but the idea of cut- 

 ting fifty or seventy-five per cent, of the useless brush wood out is 

 scorned by most people, and this ends the possibility of sensible im- 

 provement for many years in many cases. 



The p^-Mi herewith presented is designed with a view to the great- 

 est simplicity of arrangement. It contemplates the removal of some 



