38 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1880. 



" They blossom in every nook and place, 

 In tins beautiful world of ours; 

 And like the sight of an old friend's face * 



Is the smile of bright, bright flowers." 



In horticultural pursuits practice should be guided by science. 

 We should learn the name of different kinds of plants and 

 flowers so that as we read books we maj^ understand how the}'' 

 explain how plants grow, live, and form seeds. By understand- 

 ing a few plain, scientific terms, we shall be induced to open our 

 eyes and ears, and wherever we go, find 



" Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 

 Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 



Have we any riglit to go through the world looking upon 

 everything as so much to eat, to drink, and to use? Should we 

 not ask ourselves why things happen, and how God governs this 

 world of ours ? Why does the wind blow, and why does the 

 little flower open in the sunshine and close in the storm ? 



Mr. Earle here gave a comprehensive sketch of the develop- 

 ment of plant life, and briefly described the relations existing 

 between it and insect life, concluding that they were guided by 

 the law of mutual help, the law wliich bids you and me be kind 

 and good to all those around us if we would lead useful and 

 happy lives. If, said he, you are ambitious only .to ascertain 

 liow you can get so many dollars for so much labor, your investi- 

 gations will end when you have found out a few facts about tlie 

 conditions most favorable to plant growth ; but if you desire to 

 learn more and more of nature and enjoy discovering its" secrets, 

 you will soon get at the spirit which lies under the facts, and love 

 knowledge for its own sake. 



To enjoy Horticulture and make it pay, he considers it neces- 

 sary to love nature. If we wish to enjoy otherwise dry facts we 

 must clothe them with real meaning, and love the truths thej' tell. 

 In this driving age, of ours, when restlessness and love of excite- 

 ment pervade so many lives, is it nothing to be taken out of our- 

 selves and made to look at the wonders of nature going on 

 around us ? Try it, my friend, the next time you are melancholy, 

 or have the " blues "; just go out in your garden alone and inter- 

 view some little plant or flower, and ask what story it has to tell ; 

 see how tlieir scents and colors attract the insects ; learn how 

 insects cannot live without plants, nor plants without the butter- 

 fly or busy bee; and thus when'we see the quiet, steady working 

 of these fixed laws, we sliall, in a measure, lose our impatience, 

 and recognize a law and purpose in everything in the universe, 



