MR. newhall's address. 17 



hills of Lebanon, to the humble moss which invested the walls of Ju- 

 dea. And He, who was greater than Solomon remarked on the 

 glories of the lillies of the field. 



The light which this science sheds upon the operations of nature 

 places within the reach of all, the means of improving the various 

 products of the earth, by the cross fertilization of the flowers of 

 plants of different varieties of the same species. The sexes of plants 

 which botany unfolds, and which gives man a controlling influence 

 over the vegetable kingdom, was, till recently, wholly unknown. 

 Lord Bacon, who wrote in the sixteenth century, and whose brilliant 

 mind seems to have had glimpses into futurity, says, in speaking of 

 the animal world, "we see that there are compound creatures, the 

 offspring of different varieties," and in relation to the vegetable 

 kingdom, he says, "The compounding or mixture of kinds in plants 

 is not found out ; which, nevertheless, if it be possible, is more at 

 command than that of living creatures ; wherefore, it were one of 

 the most notable experiments touching plants to find it out, for so 

 you may have great variety of new fruits and flowers yet unknown." 

 These suggestions of that great man have since been realized, and 

 to their practical effects we are indebted for some of the finest pro- 

 ductions of our gardens. With this controlling influence over the 

 vegetable kingdom* in our hands, what improvements may we not 

 anticipate in the future ? 



As a taste for rural pursuits increases, may we not hope to see 

 all our waste lands and hill-tops covered with trees ? Our dwellings 

 and gardens enclosed by walls of evergreens ; and when the slavery 

 of fashion shall give place to just views of God and his works, — the 

 ladies will then desire a portion of such beautiful enclosures for the 

 formation of parterres, for the cultivation and study of flowers, — 

 those "smiles of God through his vegetable works." 



The pursuit of agriculture is not only favorable to man's physi- 

 cal well-being, but is eminently conducive to the improvement of his 

 moral nature. The farmer is that favored being who is permitted 

 as it were to stand in the laboratory of the Infinite One. While 

 many of those engaged in other useful and important occupations 

 are necessarily confined within the narrow hmits of their study or 

 work-shop, his office or place of business is the vast temple of na- 

 ture. He seems, more than others, by his daily occupation, to be 

 admitted to nearer approaches to Him, whose humble co-operator 



