216 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



propriety in making the effort, and as " never venture never have," so 

 "to him that asketh shall be given." 



It may be asked : What are the claims of horticulture to aid 

 from the State? Why should men engaged in fruit growing or in pro- 

 ducing any article by selling which the producer receives benefit, ex- 

 pect the State, by taxation, to assist him in building uj) his business ? 

 If the aid asked of the State was to result in good only to those en- 

 gaged in horticulture there might be more reason in asking the ques- 

 tion, but will the good done be so restricted ? Who is not interested 

 in and benefited by horticulture? Of all the industrial pursuits none 

 is more far-reaching and beneficial in its inlluence than is this, and to 

 deprive the world of its effects would be a speedy means of reducing 

 the human race to barbarism. Nothing has caused the poet and bard 

 to sing, or the painter to use his brush so often as have the woods and 

 fields, bright flowers and sweet fruits. Where will the most innocence 

 and happiness be found but in the midst of those things which it is the 

 horticulturist's calling to produce ? 



The members of this society are interested, not simply in increas- 

 ing their own business and financial good, but to induce others to em- 

 bark in a profitable undertaking. Our State, being so well adapted by 

 soil, climate and geographical position, offers to her citizens a profita- 

 ble field of labor in this direction, if only they can be awakened to the 

 merits of the case. There are thousand of acres of land now compara- 

 tively useles which, if devoted to fruit raising, would increase the rev- 

 enues of the State millions of dollars. There are thousands of homes 

 around which is seen but little, if any, trace of those things which a> 

 knowledge of and love for horticulture will cause to exist ; cheerless 

 are these homes where not so much as a tree or vine aids in beating 

 back the hot rays of the summer's sun, or the piercing blasts of win- 

 ter's storm. Not a fiower relieves, with its beauty and fragrance, the 

 untidy surrounding of the yard in summer or adds a ray of cheerfuness 

 to the ill-kept house within when the winter has come. Could this 

 society, by its efforts and influences, cause these so-called homes to be 

 surrounded with a neat lawn set with a few shrubs and trees and a few 

 simple flowers ? Is there anyone present who would say that the good 

 resulting would not be worth to the State many times the largest sum 

 of money the most enthusiastic horticulturist would ask from the pub- 

 lic funds ? Estimate, if you can, the value of the refining and civilizing 

 influence on the children of these homes if their rude and uncouth 

 daily, hourly surroundings could be replaced with those products of 

 horticulture which delight the eye and make glad the heart. It is not 



