1891.] TEANS ACTIONS. 11 



received from sales by auction of fruit left by exhibitors to be 

 sold for the l)enetit of the Society. The goose does not honk so 

 high, now. 



" For who hath despised the day of small things !" exclaimed 

 one of the minor prophets more than two thousand years ago. 

 You will observe that the price of Membership, originally was but 

 One Dollar ; at which limit it was maintained for many years. 

 One hundred cents were of account in those frugal da^^s ; when 

 men reaped where they had sown in the sweat of their brows ; 

 not as yet inviting their souls as they loaf beneath some cooling 

 shade or shelter of " protection." Exchange, or traffic, style it 

 by whatsoever title, had not been stimulated to an extreme, un- 

 healthy tension. Corporations were in their little beds; Rail- 

 ways had scarcely adjusted themselves in their cradles ; Trust? 

 were in the womb of Time — such conception, more hideous than 

 that of Milton's Death, lying dormant and still : nor indeed were 

 there even Stock-Boards, shares being neither long nor short. 

 It was a rural population, essentiall}^ homogeneous, realizing 

 their mutual inter-dependence, tolerating neither barrier nor 

 octroi; as individuals profiting by unrestricted barter or sale 

 among themselves ; and ready to welcome the steam carriage 

 because the stage-coach had fulfilled its usefulness. If you will 

 look through the early reports, b}' the many accomplished gentle- 

 men who made their thorough preparation a labor of love, you 

 will discover that Williams's Bon Ohrttien was imported without 

 protest, and that no infant viticulture prayed to be shielded from 

 competition with Black Hamburg or Muscat of Alexandria. 

 For true, vital Horticulture is of the very essence of Chris- 

 tianity. The one sallies forth, under divine injunction to carry 

 the gospel to every creature. The other ransacks the earth, if 

 haply it may find tlower or fruit in some newer brilliancy, or 

 rarer perfection of development ; nor revolts at their acquire- 

 ment because, in the irrepressible conflict that dominates the 

 ages, some moss-grown, vested interest must go to the wall. 



It may well be questioned how long the young Society would 

 have continued in existence, had it been nursed only upon enthu- 

 siasm and constrained to support itself upon revenue derived 



