138 WORCESTER COUNTF HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1891. 



bestow upon horticulture. You who hve in a city like Worces- 

 ter, which may well boast of its variety of manufactures, and 

 from which so many practical inventions have been sent out to 

 the world, whose railroads diverge in every direction, and 

 which boasts of a Horticultural Society over half a century 

 old, are especially calculated to appreciate the influence upon 

 the world of the American aids to horticulture. 



In comparison with the advantages resulting from the re- 

 searches, industries, and inventions of our country, our litera- 

 ture does not hold an unimportant place. It is said by those 

 competent to judge, that the works of foreign authors upon 

 sul)jects connected with the garden, or upon horticulture gene- 

 rally, are better than ours, but that our books upon special 

 subjects pertaining to, or connected with horticulture, are far 

 more thorough and practical than theirs. So we may conclude 

 from this, that we have, in a short life, benefited other countries, 

 in this respect, as much in proportion as they, in their longer 

 life, have aided each other. With these written volumes and 

 her publications devoted strictly to the subject, like "The 

 Garden and Forest "or " American Garden," with her scientific 

 works, many of which are so closely allied to this art, the 

 published records of horticultural societies and the bulletins 

 from experiment stations, America is giving a literature which 

 is of inestimable value both to the lover of the garden, or to 

 him whose living depends upon its products. Wise supervisors 

 of schools and far-seeing editors of children's magazines are 

 striving to interest the youngest readers throughout the United 

 States, in nature and especially in plants. Last spring, a child's 

 naper contained an offer of a reward to any boy or girl who would 

 collect, between the first of May and the first of September, 

 fifty kinds of native flowers, and send a list of their names. 

 Some of these children learned more than just the names ; they 

 found out when they blossomed and their habits. We cannot' 

 measure the extent of the influence that will be felt and exerted 

 by the children of our own country by their early education, and 

 this influence will extend to other lands as well. 



Children like novelties ; and where will they find them more 



