tlSTDIAiSTA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 356 



of course, was much intei-ested in everytking, and after he had looked 

 over the farm, he then went out to study the negro. We have a little 

 tovv^n there of about 3,500, but we have in that town seven or eight col- 

 ored churches, and some others outside of the town. Going out to a little 

 country village, my Massachusetts friend ran across a little old church. 

 An old darkey was sweeping the cliurch, and, of course, my friend began 

 asking questions, after the manner of his kind. He asked the denomina- 

 tion of this particular church, how large an attendance it had, and finally 

 asked who was the pastor. The old darkey said he was. Then my friend 

 went on asking more questions, asked the number in the Sunday-school, 

 and finally came to the inevitable Yankee question, "How much salary 

 do you get? 



"Well, sir," replied the darkey, "Ise been a-preaching to these niggers 

 for two years, and Ise had just ten dollars in money." 



"What!" said my friend, "only ten dollars? Why, it is a shame to let 

 you work that length of time for ten dollars." 



Here the old darkey broke in and said, "But hold on, Cap'n; you 

 ain't never heard me preach, is you?" 



You have never heard me talk yet, but I am glad to be with you this 

 evening, and shall do my best to talk as Mr. Barnes would have talked 

 had he been here. 



My first regi-et is that the hall is not better filled, and my second re- 

 gret is that there are not more young people here. The very life of the 

 State itself depends upon the young people. You farmers and fruit grow- 

 ers who have come here from a distance should have brought your boys 

 and girls with you, if you have any, and if you have none of your own, 

 you should have brought some of your neighbors' boys and girls. We 

 want the young people in all of these meetings. I was born on a farm, I 

 have lived on a farm all my life, and if I ever die I expect to die on a farm 

 —but I am in no hurry for that part, because I enjoy agriculture in every 

 part of it, and horticulture in particular, because that has been my life 

 work. It seems to me there is no place on earth where a man or a 

 woman can get so much enjoyment out of life as in close contact with 

 the soil, if they will but open their eyes and their souls to absorb the 

 good that is there. But the trouble is that, as a rule, we work too hard. 

 If I was a preacher, and was going out to preach on ten dollars for two 

 years, I would take up the subject of judicious laziness. I would urge 

 farmers not to work quite so hard with their muscles, and work harder 

 with their brains. Then they would get more profit and more enjoyment 

 out of the farm. 



The subject which I am to talk about, "Horticulture," is rather a 

 broad one, but is of particular interest to me as a farmer, because, when 

 you come to think of it— and the ladies, perhaps, will appreciate this— 

 the produce of the tree and vine is the only production of Mother Earth 

 that comes to us all ready for food. All the other products of the farm 



