THE ETHICS OF HORTICULTURE. 213 



sent to Arabia, then to Africa, thence to Ceylon. It grows to the 

 height of fifteen or twenty feet and in springtime it is covered with 

 blossoms of snowy white. A thousand years ago its product was un- 

 known to commerce. Now it is one of the world's staples, the coffee 

 tree, and its treasures are found in all lands and climes. There is a 

 remarkable history of one plant. In 1690 there was no coffee save 

 what was raised in Abyssinia and Arabia. Some merchants brought 

 a few seeds to the governor-general of the East Indies. He planted 

 them in his garden and from these Java was supplied. He sent one 

 plant to a friend in Holland. It was planted in the Botanical Garden 

 in Amsterdam. Plants from this stock were sent to the western conti- 

 nent and other parts of the world, and it is now estimated that one- 

 half of the entire production is from that Amsterdam plant — almost 

 a billion pounds a year coming from that one parent. About the 

 fourth century a few plants with fair white blossoms were taken from 

 Corea to China, and thence sprang that marvelous industry, the tea 

 trade. 



This profession is at the morning of a glorious achievement. Some 

 of us whose hair is growing gray wish we could look well over into a 

 new century and see the marvelous transformations. We are just 

 ready to do something. The art of propagation is understood as never 

 before. Improvement by hybridizing and other processes is now well 

 underway. The choicest products of the world are being gathered 

 within a few years. Luscious fruits by nature too tender for our try- 

 ing climate have been transferred to hardier stocks, as in the case of 

 many of our apples. The Wealthy apple alone has moved the fruit 

 belt north 200 miles. So with other fruits. We shall have crosses 

 which will give luscious cherries on hardy stocks. And so far as 

 flowers are concerned, what attainments have been made? See the 

 displays of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society every week for 

 sixteen months and see what progress is made, with more to follow. 



Horticulture is the most ancient and honorable of the employments 

 which have come down to us. The parent of the human race was put 

 in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, and some way the 

 work grew upon him so he had to have an assistant, and so the mother 

 of the human race belonged to the same calling. It had a wide range 

 even in those far off days. There were "trees pleasant to the sight 

 and good for food," fruit and ornamental trees. The Saviour of men 



