22 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1892. 



exact stern self-denial, possibly entire abnegation of self, to 

 assume for our own the austere motto of ancient Eome : 



" Palmam qui meruit, fer at ; " 

 but what nobler or more appropriate rule can we adopt for our 

 guidance ! And after all, in proportion as we attain to such 

 disinterestedness ; and so govern ourselves that we may join in 

 cordial acclaim to the best man who wins ; shall we make our- 

 selves fit to achieve the prizes of our honorable calling. In 

 horticulture, as in aught else worth pursuit, the man who knows 

 it all is sure of the back seat ; being distanced at every turn by 

 the humbler, but assiduous, student. 



And likewise of what the Chronicle euphemistically terms 

 the " welfare of trades." A prominent member of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society once told me that the marked 

 success of that organization might be attributed to its exemption 

 from the influence of the shop, — more than to any other cause. 

 By which he doubtless would be understood to imply that the 

 Society and its membership pursued horticulture for its own 

 sake : and not, according to current slang, for what there was 

 "in it"! When exhibitions are maintained because they fur- 

 nish a dividend day, as it were, whereon to apportion gross in- 

 come, the true vital spirit of the association faints and dies be- 

 neath its mercenary burden, and its epitaph cannot be too soon 

 nor plainly written : Here lie Ceres, Flora, and Pomona ! 

 Would you know wherefore they perished, untimely? Because 

 they made unto themselves idols, — Apples of gold in pictures 

 of silver; and, coveting the work of their own craft, — auri 

 sacra fames, — proved their death ! Were I prelate of this 

 communion I should never cease my exhortations to the attain- 

 ment of the highest excellence ; to implore each member to dis- 

 card everything imperfect, even where detection is unlikely ; 

 and to strive, in all honorable ways, for achievement of that 

 pre-eminence which will surely attend upon honest purpose and 

 fair dealing. Or, as was forcibly expressed by the Preacher, 

 of olden Jewry, — 



" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 

 and all these things shall be added unto you ! " 



