114 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1896. 



perhaps. "We do not yet know all the facts ; what little is known has 

 been discovered very recently indeed. 



Within a few days I came across this extract from a Bulletin of the 

 Royal Botanic Garden (probably Kew) . Referring to the established 

 fact that ants are found essential to the healthy growth of some 

 orchids, Mr. J. H. Hart states that they probably carry to the roots 

 of the orchid the mycelium of a fungus which enables them to take 

 up food otherwise unattainable. 



Such facts as these of course are largely in the province of the 

 professional botanists, indeed of specialists in that great science, and 

 amateurs, however enthusiastic, are perhaps not likely to add much to 

 human knowledge in this direction. And yet I am not sure of this ; 

 there may be important relations of the kind I have just described 

 quite within reach of the observant faculties of many in this audience. 

 But not without work, and time, and abundant patience. 



I trust that this too hasty review of a most extensive subject has 

 not been without its interest for you, and I hope that you will carry 

 away something more than some bits of miscellaneous information. 

 I should be very glad to feel that I had led some to see that this 

 interest in mushrooms which has so recently grown up is something 

 more than a passing fad. It is an introduction to a new realm in 

 nature, under conditions which require some study and careful obser- 

 vation. We cannot safely gather mushrooms for our table without a 

 knowledge of the species we bring home ; not a vague general idea 

 regarding them, but knowledge at least as discriminating as that 

 which ought to be held by one who gathers autumn leaves, and does 

 not care to run the risks of the poison ivy and dogwood. 



