10 THE REPORT OF THE [ No, 19 



mode of life that cannot be dull and that requires a high degree of intelligence and 

 ability for its successful prosecution. 



Intellectual people, the speaker continued, are much inclined towards horticulture. 

 When such retire with a competence from the business of life they usually find some 

 place on the outskirts of a city or town where there is room for a garden, and there they 

 enjoy their leisure in the cultivation of fruits and flowers. In proof of this devotion to 

 gardening on the part of men who possessed the highest intellectual gifts, the speaker 

 referred to several well-known authors. Blackmore, whose novels hold a place in the 

 first rank, thought more of his fruits and flowers than he did of his books. Rider Hag- 

 gard not long ago retired to an estate in England, and now he prefers to be spoken of as 

 a farmer or gardener rather than as a writer of fiction. John Burroughs, the charming 

 American writer, shows in his works his devotion to birds and flowers. Charles Dudley 

 Warner lived for ten years in Hartford before he became popular, and then it was due 

 to his papers as an amateur gardener published in the Hartford Courier. These attracted 

 much attention and were published in book- form, with an introduction by Henry Ward 

 Beecher, under the now well-known title " My Summer in a Garden." 



The greatest Canadian historian is undoubtedly Francis Parkman. Though not a 

 dweller in our country, he devoted himself to the study of its early annals and produced 

 a series of works that cannot be too highly praised for the beauty of their style and the 

 intense interest ot their contents. His recently published biography deserves to be 

 widely read ; it shows that the great moral of his life was the surmounting of difficulties. 

 Almost blind, crippled with rheumatism, prostrated with nervousness, without a really 

 well day for twenty-five years, he yet managed to accomplish a vast amount of admirable 

 literary work. At the early age of twenty-six he made an expedition along the famous 

 *• Oregon Trail " in the search for materials for a contemplated book. The hardships he 

 then endured undermined his health and he was compelled to lay aside his literary work 

 for a time. Horticulture became his exclusive pursuit for several years and by its aid 

 he gradually regained his former health and vigour. He made the growing of roses and 

 lilies his specialty, and at one time possessed a thousand varieties of roses and a great 

 number of hybrids that he had obtained fiom lilies and other flowers. The meritorious 

 character of his work was attested by his winning no less than 326 awards at the flower 

 shows of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In 1871 he was actually appointed 

 Professor of Horticulture by Harvard University and he held the position for a year. 

 After that he returned to his literary pursuits and gained a reputation second to none 

 as a painstaking, accurate historian of the romantic period of the early French regime in 

 Canada. 



Horticulture when broadly pursued is an education in itself ; it requires undoubted 

 powers of observation and induction, and as it demands intelligence, men of intelligence 

 take a delight in it. It has also a moral aspect. Take the case of a boy — if he has a 

 fondness for flowers and fruits, insects and birds, he cannot be an immoral person. His 

 tastes are too high for that ; his love for the beautiful things in nature raises him to a 

 higher level and exalts his aspirations far above the sordid things of earth. Believing 

 this to be the result, we can realize how important it is that space should be given in our 

 School system for *' Nature Study." It instinctively appeals to the hearts of all child- 

 ren, and by its cultivation leads them on to higher things and makes them better fitted 

 to take their place with their fellows in later life — to do their duty more intelligently, 

 more uprightly, towards their country, their neighbours, and at their own fireside. 



THE PLANTING, CARE AND PRUNING OF THE TREES IN THE PARKS 



AND STREETS OF THE CITY. 



By Mr. W. E. Saunders, op London. 



The subject upon which I have to speak to you to-night is of great importance from 

 every point of view, and while I only intend to touch upon certain phases, I feel sure 

 the interest you have in the matter will lead you to follow it out in other lines also. 



In nature, trees grow in one of two ways — either in a crowded forest, or in places 

 more or leas open, where they get plenty of light. Although light ii free to all, yet 



