90 HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE l.\ MIXXKSOTA. 



|)iled ill the .street. No weeds upon the hiwii. Good books lie ui)Oii the table 

 within, and pictures hang upon the avails. Without there is an air of comfort, 

 \yithin, peace, virtue and love. The owner has the respect of his fellow men. 

 and good angels hover about and keep his loved ones. He that is so poor, or 

 lives in a clime so ungenial that he cannot have such surroundings, merits our 

 pity and our prayers. Such a home exalts the mind of its possessor, reveals 

 to hiin that he possesses a soul, and lifts him up towards the great God who 

 gives the fruits, and makes the flowers so beautifid that " Solomon in all his 

 glory was not arrayed like one of these." 



It is the mission of this Society to encourage floriculture, and home adorn- 

 ment, by bringing such influences to bear upon it as shall arouse and set into 

 action this love. It may be nearly crushed out of the majority of the house- 

 holders of this age : in some by greed of gain ; in others by the hardships and 

 perils of pioneer life, but it never entirely dies ; but if it did, we might teach 

 their sons to raise fruits and their daughters to cultivate flowers, Avhich would 

 give them present gratification, and lead them onward and upward to future 

 happiness, and let the world and -old folks" know that wheat and pork are 

 not all that give enjoyment in this life. To further this end I hope our Soci- 

 ety will hold Floral exhibitions and award iiremiums, not so much to remu- 

 nerate the professional gardener, as to encourage the sons and daughters of 

 the farmer and mechanic. 



I am not satisfied with what 1 have said on this subject. Had I the talents 

 of a Clay or Webster, or had I the eloquence of a Patrick Henry, could I 

 speak with the tongue of fire and paint in pictures of gold, I would exhaust 

 them all in trj'ing to persuade my fellow Minuesotians to beautify their homes. 

 Xever, never, can I forget the expression of joy that I have seen light up the 

 eyes of the toil-worn, almost broken-hearted Avives of farmers, at the sight of 

 a rose-bud, or geranium leaf : and then what sadness came over them when 

 the husband was asked to purchase a little plant for them, and replied "what 

 they wanted with such trash?" I would be most happ}^ if I could influence 

 their husbands and sons to raise a few flowers, or at least furnish them for 

 their wives or sisters to cultivate. I do not hope to transform our whole 

 State in one generation. There are men whom we cannot reach by any direct 

 means. They do not subscribe for any agricultural or horticultural papers, 

 oi- read any books on those subjects. They cannot see any beauty in the row 

 of shade trees along the roadside, or any utility in the flower-bed, and think 

 the door-yard is the finest kind of a place for pasturing their calves. They 

 know just what their fathers did and no more. They will not become mem- 

 bers of this Society because they do not see the dollar's worth in it, and will 

 never have any fruit, except what they purchase or is given to them; and 

 there will be such a dreary, repelling air about their bleak homesteads that 

 their children will desert them and leave them to spend their declining years 

 alone, because there is no memory of pleasant associations and hap])y days 

 clustering about the old home. 



I will now conclude with a fcAV suggestions : First, wc should secure a liall 

 or room in some town that is easy of access, and commence making a collec- 



