1891.] ESSAYS. 151 



have an interesting study for a lifetime ; with each season 

 comes some new beauty of form or exquisite blending of 

 color, of all the varied tints known in nature, so widely ex- 

 tended is their seemingly never-ending variety, to adorn each 

 garden, affording the widest field for labor and taste, to beautify 

 and add charm to every spot fit for the habitation of civilized 

 man. Men and women of all ages have been devoted to their 

 cultivation, they prove not only a pleasure but a recreation to 

 those engaged in all pursuits of life ; they build up a sentiment 

 alike in the old and the young, and fortunate indeed is the one 

 who encourages the growth of sentiment and o?sthetic taste in 

 their love and cultivation, for even a few flowers, grown by 

 assiduous care up to the highest degree of excellence. Such 

 persons get the most out of life. 



The foremost men of earlier times in our Society's history, 

 whose portraits adorn our Hall, have rendered their verdict 

 in favor of fruits and flowers, and in favor of the refining and 

 elevating influence in the practice of Horticulture. Let us find 

 opportunities by their example to carry forward the unfinished 

 work and the objects and interests of this Society. 



