THE EVOLUTIOX OF A LOCAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



465 



Fig. 2177. Residence of A. K. Goodman. 



know what; his arrival was most opportune, 

 but our hearts failed us at the idea of g^etting 

 50 members in Cayuga. However three of 

 us, Mr. Skeele, our president, Mr. Morson, 

 manager of the Bank of Commerce, our 

 treasurer, and the writer as secretary, started 

 on the tramp — -after hours. At first people 

 laughed at us but we soon had 78 members 

 and then everyone said " I told you so." In 

 the spring we were impatient to see the 

 snow go, everybody cleaned up, bonfires 

 were general, pigpens were abolished, the 

 cattle shut up. The Cayuga Horticultural 

 Society was on every tongue and lazy men 

 apologized and said " If I'd a place of my 

 own I'd go in for flowers too." As the 

 season opened street trees and evergreens 

 were planted, many new gardens were made. 

 The county council was waited upon and 

 gave a grant of S50 for 1901 for flowers 

 Governor Murphy joined forces with us and 

 with great taste and skill directed our local 

 florist, Slocum, to the end that gardens in 

 our Court House park grounds of 12 acres, 

 of great natural beauty, excited the admira- 

 tion of everybody. The public, the grand 

 jury, the county council and the visiting 

 justices of the Supreme Court, all spoke well 

 of the work and praised the exquisite taste 

 of the guiding hand and the beneficial and 

 wholesome results attained. The town 

 council, too, gave us S20 with which three 



handsome beds were made in the town park; 

 these were even watered and cared for vol- 

 untarily by good citizens. Our government 

 grant was $60. A handsome cedar hedge 

 was donated to the High School grounds and 

 many took advantage of the opportunity of 

 buying choice stock at wholesale rates. Our 

 public meeting held in the Court House was 

 attended by an immense number ; Mr. Wm. 

 Bacon, of Orillia, the government lecturer, 

 was simply astounded to see the life and 

 snap exhibited by a year-old society, 'the 

 floral decorations, the orchestra and the in- 

 tense interest and Mr. Bacon's well-known 

 ability made this meeting very attractive. 

 But we have just commenced and next year 

 is already bright with promise. Our County 

 Council in most eulogistic terms granted us 

 S50 again for flowers in 1902. Our member- 

 ship list is growing steadily and we look 

 forward to a year of great improvement. 



The general outside opinion is that our 

 society has already done a great deal of good 



Fig. 2178. Asters. 



