No. 4.] KEPOET OF SECRETAKY. xix 



We need to realize the dignity of our calling ; to pro- 

 mote these experiments which our State and nation are 

 working out, and to realize the necessity for the work they 

 are doing for this country ; to encourage each and all who 

 till the soil to do their best work, and to find in it the 

 added profit ; to inspire in the farmer the desire to excel, 

 to cultivate the love of nature, to realize the grandeur and 

 joy of working together with God, seeking out the subtle- 

 ties of plant life, and multiplying and increasing His gifts 

 for the sustenance of man. 



We are proud of our State, its wealth, its resources, its 

 productions ; in columns of finance it ranks high ; and yet 

 these all must subserve one thing to be truly rich and pros- 

 perous, and that is, the conditions which produce strong, 

 noble men and noble women, fully equipped to noblest 

 purpose and to grandest aims ; and the nearer to nature the 

 child is reared, the purer the instincts and the more healthy 

 the development on all lines. The nearer the child to 

 nature, the better, the stronger the man. There is not a 

 city in these States that is not richly endowed by the 

 strength of country life infusing its every avenue. 



God gave us the country and the love of country and the 

 love of nature. The garden is the symbol of all that is best 

 and sweetest from the day of creation to the present moment. 

 The garden is hallowed by the life of our Lord, — bright 

 and happy, sad and bitter experiences, all found zest, solace 

 and strength there. The hills were His teachers, the wheat 

 was a lesson, the birds were companions and He cared for 

 them. When we take His created things, so dear to the 

 Divine heart, and multiply them as the wheat, beautify them 

 as the lily and the rose, create new varieties, new bounty, 

 new beauty, we are walking so near to God that the very 

 thought of His joy in our endeavors must lift us to higher 

 altitudes and more joyous work. Life is lifted by its sur- 

 roundings, and nature was made so delightful, so beautiful 

 and so improvable, as a ministry, elevating, ennobling and 

 refining. Therefore must this communion wdth nature en- 

 noble man, uplift and deify character, so long as the world 

 shall endure. 



And, second, the element of cduofition or greater knowl- 



