ADDRESS Oh' WKLCOMi;. 81 



like plowing. I do not see much more need of having a luot'essor of 

 spraying than a professor of plowing. They are farm operations, ordi- 

 nary, essential operations. Back of all the spraying lies what might 

 sometimes appear to be dull and uninteresting study of disease. It is 

 because before we can tell you what to do for them, we must know 

 something about the trouble and perhaps we can tell you then. In 

 many cases we cannot because studies here, there and other places must 

 be carried on and become acquainted with, and general conclusions 

 drawn and further detailed studies made which .may involve years of 

 work. Hasty conclusions based on an afternoon's nap or dream are 

 no longer accepted at the value which they formerly were; we do not 

 appreciate what a horribly credible crowd of people we are getting to be. 



Results of twenty-five years ago were accepted as gospel truth, not 

 based on anything in particular. We frequently built a building bot- 

 tom side up in those old days and drew our conclusions afterwards. In 

 other words, we threw the roof up in the air and when we had leisure 

 time we built something under it to support it. Now we proceed In 

 exactly the opposite direction, by building the foundation first; that 

 foundation consists of pure science. Nature gives to horticulture that 

 pure science which is botany, so they are there classed together. 



One very characteristic thing about the botanist and horticulturist 

 is their natural modesty is always shown. Cgesar claims that all Gaul 

 was divided in three parts. The nurseryman has all three kinds of 

 gall (Gaul); they have both soft galls, hard galls, and hairy -root 

 galls, all three kinds, but we don't show it to any great extent. I think 

 as a matter of fact the horticultural needs are not as a rule properly 

 presented to the people. I remember in my first little effort to organize 

 a horticultural movement which was in trying to organize a closer 

 inspection work in Alabama, or at least to direct it along useful chan- 

 nels, I was called before a committee of the Legislature. There was a 

 bill up for consideration and there was a man in that Legislature who 

 had been in the house for ten or twelve years, off and on, who made 

 the startling statement that he did not think there was any sense in 

 having any legislation designed to assist horticulturists and nurserymei. 

 because there was not any in the blooming state. Of course, as a matter 

 of fact, the largest in the world are located in the northern part of 

 the state of Alabama. The active insnector will burn up more stock 

 there than the average state will produce, so I am inclined to think 

 that, although the horticulturists are in possession of all gall (Gaul) 

 they haven't been displaying it to any great extent; so that horticultural 

 interests and their value, their general value, the value of horticultural 

 work in a community or commonwealth is not appreciated as it should 

 be, not by any means. 



I have been surprised frequently at what you get when you come 

 down to hard figures with reference to some of those propositions. How 

 many of you are aware that last year there was over 7,000 acres of 

 cabbage planted out in Nebraska? About 7,000 acres of nurserv stock? 



