THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



136 



earth, and "to dress the garden and 

 to keep it " has been the desire of every 

 man who, after long wanderings, has 

 learned the point from whence all his 

 impulses sprang. The poor man seeks 

 the soil ; the rich and the powerful be- 

 lieve in its refreshing influences and 

 its repose. The industrious and frugal 

 mechanics and labourers of our country 

 all toil for a home and a spot which 

 they can cultivate. The merchant of 

 our day, like his ancestor in the early 

 periods of our commercial history, 

 when every man bought a farm, believe 

 now in the delights of rural and subur- 

 ban life. The law and tlie custom of 

 our fathers was a land-holding clergy, 

 established for life in their ministra- 

 tions. From the farms and plantations 

 of the colonies sprang brave and hardy 

 and wise men, who gave us our free- 

 dom and our nationality. 



I trust, therefore, that to this and to 

 all other associations dedicated to the 

 work of preserving and restoring our 

 vast forest wealth, and of beautifying 

 the earth upon which we tread, the 

 people of this continent will extend a 

 grateful heart and a helping hand. 



In conclusion, let me urge upon this 

 Association the most careful considera- 

 tion of the topics before it — the use of 

 forests ; the conservation of forests ; the 

 influences, injurious and beneficial of 

 forests; the educational means by which 

 we may become acquainted with For- 

 estry work. To what extent can the 

 land-owner enter profitably upon the 

 business of tree-planting and forest 

 culture] What legislation can the 

 States best adopt for the increase and 

 preservation of their forests] How 

 shall the General Government provide 

 for the planting of forests on its public 

 lands ; *What is the precise extent of 

 forest waste ; What is the comparative 

 value of various timber trees ] How 

 shall we secure wind-breaks on the 

 prairies ? By what chemical processes 



can we preserve our timber used in 

 building and fencing? What forest 

 trees are best adapted to various locali- 

 ties 1 — these are questions which should 

 be answered as definitely as possible. 

 They are questions which the American 

 people are anxious to have answered, 

 and before which all discussion of 

 foreign legislation, all consideration of 

 the value of wood products, all statistics 

 of trade, all study of land tenure, sink 

 into insignificance. I trust the deli- 

 berations of this convention will point 

 the way by which these problems can 

 be solved, and by which our vast forest 

 wealth can be economically preserved 

 and profitably used. 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FLOWERS 

 AND FRUITS. 



The habitat of our favorite flowers is 

 always a source of interest to the flower- 

 lover, as well as to the botanist, — but 

 a climate, which will by adoption give 

 home and nurture to the more delicate 

 forms of plant-life, and give results 

 nearly, if not quite, equal to the finest 

 conservatory conditions, is one deserving 

 the attention of amateurs. Below the 

 35th parallel, these results in multitudes 

 of instances are daily witnessed. This is 

 true of the valleys at the foot of the 

 Santa Ynez mountains, and the valleys 

 for twenty or thirty miles below sliel- 

 tered by the trend of the coast from cold 

 north winds and the hot winds of the 

 desert beyond the mountains ; especially 

 in the belt of country known as the 

 Santa Barbara valley, a strip of land 

 lying on the sea-coast, protectod by the 

 outlying islands from ocean win Is and 

 storms, rendering the harbor a natu rally 

 fine one, where steamers land at all 

 seasons. Then, with the protection on 

 the north and west before noted, a cli- 

 matic condition may be found embracing 

 the needs of temperate, semi-tropical 

 and many tropical plants. The Steph- 

 anotis will climb amicably beside the 



