SEVENTH MEETING, MARCH 11th, P. M. 

 Ylce- President Hadwen in the chair. 



Subject : Does Horticulture Pat, and How ? 



The subject was introduced b}' Mr. William H. Earle, who 

 commenced with a tribute to nature, and treated the class 

 engaged in the cultivation of the soil as that in whose success the 

 interests of mankind are so mucli involved that every 'question 

 concerning the production of food, fruit, flowers and plants, 

 deserves serious attention. In speaking of Horticulture he said 

 that whether pursued as a recreation, or as an avocation, it has a 

 peculiar interest in training us to habits of quick observation, in 

 ennobling and elevating the heart and life ; for the more we com- 

 prehend design and purpose in the works of nature, the more we 

 shall learn to understand the fitness of means to end, in human 

 conduct. Speaking of the manner in which the work is gen- 

 erally done, he said : — 



But few seek to comprehend those laws, in accordance with 

 which individual effort is alone able to secure the best results. 

 It is the right understanding and application of the laws and 

 conditions which govern and control the application of human 

 industry to the original materials that the Creaior has spread 

 around us, which largely determines tlie profitableness of our 

 labor, which gives us abundance, health and contentment, or 

 brings to us unrest, privation and want. The life of tlie farmer 

 siiould invito to something more than ploughing and sowing, and 

 sweating in the harvest, and gathering into barns. This body is 

 not our real life, but only the covering of the man. More than 

 the body the mind needs food and growth, and we should care 

 for the body for the sake of the mind and soul, the real man. 

 Now the surroundings of our earthly homes affect beyond all 

 recognition the higher development. Whenever I pass a farm- 

 house with the garden all gone to weeds, fences down, and every- 

 thing all "out of fix" every way, in these outer surroundings I 

 see a copy of the inner life of the owner ; even where the sur- 

 .roundings show thrift, if the well-kept buildings have about 

 them ncitlier tree, liedge, nor plot of flowers or grass, T cannot 

 reconcile such a life with any sound philosophy. From such 



