20th February, A. D. 1896. 



ESSAY 



BY 



CHARLES GREENWOOD, Worcester, Mass. 



Theme: — Famth/ Vegetable Garden. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen. — After listening to the 

 address of the President, to the able paper on the adornment of the 

 home grounds, to the scholarly talk on the forces of nature as they 

 affect the weather, to the interesting and instructive paper on the high- 

 est mission of the horticulturist, to the learned professors iu their 

 masterly presentation of facts concerning fungus and insect life that 

 affect all vegetable life, it seems like a fearful drop from these dizzy 

 heights to the common every day work of the farm and the considera- 

 tion of " what shall we eat." But this habit of eating, though an ex- 

 pensive one, has in all ages been found necessary to stimulate the mind 

 for scientific study, as well as to nourish the body for the full enjoy- 

 ment of the choicest productions of the horticulturist's skill. And so, 

 perhaps, it may be well for once during the winter to consider the 

 family vegetable garden, from which may be had, from early spring 

 till late autumn, so much to gratify the taste and minister to the health 

 and happiness of all. After learning of the mavellous reproductive 

 powers of both fungus and insect life, and the rapidity with which 

 vegetation is destroyed by their withering touch, it would seem well- 

 nigh impossible to secure anything desirable as a reward for our labor. 

 But, fortunately for us, there are many natural causes that at times 

 prevent the full development of these pests, and what is far more to 

 our credit, we have learned by experience, observation and study to 

 protect ourselves against their ravages, while the chemists have by 

 study and experience placed in our hands various insecticides and 

 fungicides for their destruction. One of the most important things 

 we have learned is that, in vegetable as well as in animal diseases, 

 prevention is better than cure. That, as in the animal kingdom, either 

 in the brute creation or the humau family, the surest way to guard 



