GARDENING FOR AND BY AMATEURS. 

 By J. Otto Thilow, Philadelphia. 



Delivered before the Society, January 14, 1911. 



The greatest activity in the past decade in horticulture has been 

 through the enthusiasm of the amateur. Much of this inspira- 

 tion has been created by the great amount of travel abroad, where 

 the minutest detail is of interest, because everybody is more or less 

 busy in some branch of horticulture; and since the interest shown 

 by our own plant and flower lovers at home, it has spread and 

 reached nearly all parts of the country. 



By and through this interest the whole country has awakened 

 to the fact that great returns have come to those who are active 

 in the work, not from a remunerative standpoint, but in interest, 

 better knowledge of plants and trees, studying the varied aspect 

 of nature, aiding in the development of vegetation, and conforming 

 as much as possible to natural conditions. This is perhaps the 

 most interesting part of the work, as there is so great a variation 

 that it becomes interesting and responsive, while landscape archi- 

 tecture and formal gardening adhere so much to set conditions 

 that they become tiresome, neither can they be attempted cheaply. 



^Ye would not decry the skill of the landscape gardener, architect, 

 and engineer; were it not for these, much of the beautiful city 

 environs would not be known. Much credit is due to many of 

 these skilful artists for having brought order out of chaos, and for 

 having been instrumental in beautifying the localities adjacent 

 to our cities. Massachusetts can boast of having taken the lead 

 in town and country improvement and in railroad station better- 

 ment. 



The florist and nurseryman are all busy people, overrun during 

 the period of planting, and busy at other seasons preparing for 

 the rush; awake only to inquiries and matters that lead to business; 

 but never have they time to educate or to inculcate the taste and 



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