102 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



Sir, I congratulate you that our flowers are not 



" born to blush unseen, 

 And waste their sweetness on the desert air." 



The botany we cultivate, the productions of the business of horticulture, 

 the plants of the garden are cultivated with us, by hands as delicate as 

 their own tendrils, viewed by countenances as spotless and pure as their 

 own petals, and watched by eyes as brilliant and full of lustre as their own 

 beautiful exhibitions of splendor. (Applause.) 



Horticulture is one pursuit of natural science, in which all sexes, ages, 

 and degrees of education and refinement unite. Nothing is too polished 

 to see the beauty of flowers, nothing too rough to be capable of enjoying 

 them. It attracts, gratifies, and delights all. It seems to be a common 

 field where every degree of taste and refinement may unite and find op- 

 portunities for their gratification. 



]\Ir. President, I will take the occasion to accord to the sentiment of the 

 honorable Secretary of the Commonwealth, and congratulate you on the 

 return of our worthy friend who has just spoken. He finds here no en- 

 emy, and in the exhibition of the talent which he possesses, of His classical 

 learning and his popular oratory, he finds only one rival, but a very dan- 

 gerous rival ; if he maintains the competition with that rival he has noth- 

 ing to fear, and that rival is his own reputation. 



Mr. President, we, who belong to the class of farmers, are compelled to 

 bring nothing but our applause to those whose taste, condition, and posi- 

 tion enable them to contribute these horticultural excellencies which we 

 see around us. But the honor belongs to the State, and I shall not trespass 

 beyond the bounds of reason and justice, if I say that there could nowhere, 

 nowhere be a more perfect and tasteful exhibition of horticultural products 

 than we have witnessed in this town the present week. Let this good 

 work speed. May this useful and good work go on prospering and to 

 prosper. And as we live in a country which produces a race of hard- 

 working men, and the most useful fruits of the earth, so let us show every 

 year that it is not less productive of beautiful flowers, as it certainly is not 

 of graceful hands to wreathe and entwine them. (Applause.) 



The following song, written for the occasion by the Hon. George Lunt, 

 ■was then sung : — 



In elder days and softer climes, beneath the reign of Jove, 

 When Oreads peopled every hill, and Dryads filled the grove, 

 Oft as the fields in ripened charms the autumn suns imbrowned, 

 With garlands bright the simple swains their votive altars bound. 



And old and young alike before the verdant shrines appear, 

 With blushing flowers and golden fruits that blessed the closing year ; 

 With wreaths and chaplets girt around, the long procession came, 

 And swelling pipes and vocal joy the harvest hour proclaim. 



