STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 437 



which are said to measure thirty-six feet in circiimfereuce, of 

 which some writer has said: " For glory of beauty, uuequaled 

 among all the objects of the vegetable kingdom," Downing says: 

 " Washingtonia gigantea the mammoth tree." This truly most 

 magnificent of trees — deciduous or evergreen — was discovered 

 in a valley of the source of one of the tributaries at the Calaveras, 

 California. Within an area of fifty acres only, ninety-two of the 

 species were found standing, without doubt the most stupendous 

 vegetable product on earth; discovered in 1850. Some forty 

 years ago I saw in the valley of the St. Johns Eiver, Canada, one 

 of the most graceful and majestic botanical specimens that it has 

 ever been my good fortune to behold. A. white elm, perhaps 

 seventy -five feet to the first limbs, and the branches drooping so 

 gracefully down, rendered an object lesson of rare majestic 

 beauty. I was younger than I am now, but I never could forget 

 that tree. The most conspicuous object lessons among apple 

 trees, as far as my observations have extended, were found in the 

 valley of the Genesee Eiver, a Northern Spy tree that measured 

 twelve feet in circumference. 



The horticulturist, like the politician and artist, is satisfied 

 with nothing but the best models. The politician's objective 

 points are the county seats, state capitols and the capitol at 

 Washington. Xearly all our ex-presidents have held seats in 

 Congress, the others being military heroes. They study the lives 

 of the greatest statesmen, while we study the lives of the greatest 

 botanical specimens. And in all the departments of human 

 knowledge that man is the most successful who keeps the nearest 

 to, and draws inspiration from, the very best models. The states 

 west of the Mississippi have never produced a president, while 

 Virginia, lying in plain sight of the great object lesson — the 

 dome of the capitol — has given us five; no other state but two. 



Excuse me, gentlemen, when I began this paper I did not mean 

 to touch on politics or religion, and for fear I may be led still 

 further astray, I will sum up and see if there is anything of im- 

 portance to the horticulturist to be gleaned from our random 

 observations upon object lessons: 



First — Our most magnificent models are in the rich valleys. 



Second — I^ear living water. 



Third — In alluvial soil. 



Fourth — Whether wind is broken by mountains and high hills. 



Fifth — Where the sun strikes but a small part of the day. 



Sixth — In case of transplanted trees where the mulching has 

 been heavy. 



