56 BANQUET TO THE 



sprang from a root far down in the deep recesses 

 of his nature, and could not be repressed or extin- 

 guished by other occupations and pursuits. At an 

 early period, first as a recreation, and afterward with 

 a higher purpose, he became a gentleman farmer in 

 name, but really a practical and scientific farmer 

 in its truest and noblest meaning. The relation of 

 soils to specific products was studied and made the 

 subject of experiment ; and this not for himself 

 alone, but for the great farming public of the nation. 

 Fruit-trees and fruit-culture, flora-culture and flora- 

 hybridizing, and a proper nomenclature in pomology, 

 received his careful and assiduous attention ; and 

 these labors have been followed by the most satis- 

 factory results. He has always been a profound 

 believer in organized and associated effort, and his 

 name has been connected from the start with those 

 great associations in this line which have so marvel- 

 lously elevated and dignified agricultural pursuits. 

 He was the organizer and first President of the Nor- 

 folk Agricultural Society, which office he held for 

 twenty years ; the first President of the Central Board, 

 the forerunner and parent of our State Board of 

 Agriculture ; the organizer, and the first President, 

 of the United States Agricultural Society at Wash- 

 ington ; the organizer, likewise, of the American 

 Pomological Society in New York, in 1S48, of which 

 he was the first President (and I may add that he 



