40 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Whilst I am grateful for the honor I am fearful what little I have to 

 say will fall short of being satisfactory to you, who, on former occasions 

 of this kind, used to listen to the scholarly and studied discourses of such 

 intellectual giants as J. Sterling Morton and Robert W. Furnas. These 

 illustrious men — peace and farewell to their ashes! — labored from the 

 smallest beginnings in the territorial days to the days of stalwart state- 

 hood to promote horticulture and arboriculture in Nebraska. 



All. objects of general good are better promoted by societies than by 

 Individuals; the most powerful influences are those which are effected 

 by associated exertions. In every department of life it is made manifest. 

 In civil government, in religious endeavors, in financial enterprises, it is 

 apparent. 



America owes much of her success and vigor as a nation to the fact 

 that her climate is capable of producing plants which, as food, bring 

 about in mati the highest results, both mentally and physically. This 

 happy result is due mostly to natural conditions and natural laws, but 

 also in a large degree to a systematic or concerted action on man's part 

 to bring this about. 



The principles which bind the Horticultural Society together consti- 

 tute a green oasis in the desert of a new country, where the example, 

 the experience, the advice and the practical demonstration of ultimate 

 success by older settlers gives encouragement and assistance to every 

 new comer. Difficulties in obtaining suitable nursery-stock, barriers to 

 the markets of the world, damages by drouth and noxious insects, in- 

 sufficient irrigation and other annoyances are overcome wholly or in part 

 by co-operation. Friendly intercourse of horticulturists, frequent inter- 

 change of seeds, seedlings, cuttings and similar mutual assistance will 

 nerve our arms and inspire our hearts with a still loftier and nobler zeal 

 in the performance of our labor. As a brotherhood, so to speak, we taste 

 a joy celestial in its origin, pure in its development and sublime in its 

 consummation. 



With increasing wealth there always comes the demand for something 

 more than the bare necessities of life in the way of food and clothes; 

 hence there nave been developed the various branches of horticulture, 

 furnishing as they do many things, which, strictly speaking, are not re- 

 quired to sustain life, but which nevertheless add to the health, happi- 

 ness and contentment of the people. 



The average farmer probably cares little for blooming trees and 

 fragrant flowers, but he should reflect that many, perhaps some of his 

 family or neighbors, find distinct pleasure in the presence of an orchard 

 or garden. This source of enjoyment, once aroused, should be encour- 

 aged, particularly in the youth of the country. Every farmer, as well 

 as every dweller in a city or village, should therefore, if not from the 

 view of financial gain, co-operate heartily with U3 in the endeavor to ex- 

 tend horticulture. 



Although a small eastern portion of our great state with 70,000 



