210 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The strongest evidence of the culture and refinement of a com- 

 munity is discovered in the general surroundings of their dwell" 

 ings. We love the spots we have adorned. Polished landscapes 

 and ornamented residences indicate peace and prosperity, order 

 and protection, without which no people can be truly refined. In 

 barbarous countries, or in the rough times of insecurity and war, 

 these are neglected. But the arts of agriculture and horticulture 

 flourish with quiet progress and content. The wealth and inde- 

 pendence of a nation depend greatly on its agriculture. States- 

 men of all ages have recognized this. The sayings of Cicero are 

 quoted even now. Our forefathers felt the force of the conviction 

 early and strongly. The greatest patriots, Washington included, 

 devoted their money and their energies to it. As soon as the war 

 of the Revolution was over they became alive to it. In 1792, the 

 " Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture " was incorpo- 

 rated. Among the first members were the most distinguished law- 

 yers, doctors, ministers, merchants, and statesmen of the countr}^ 

 — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Fisher Ames, Christopher Gore, 

 Caleb Strong, John Brooks, John Hancock, Samuel Dexter, Win- 

 throp, Bowdoin, Lowell, Lee, Lyman, Judge T^-ng, and other 

 worthies. 



In their printed " appeal " they " call in the most urgent man- 

 ner on every practical farmer" for information and aid, and assert 

 that " our wealth and importance are so intimately connected with 

 and dependent on the success of agriculture that every one who is 

 desirous of advancing the happiness, prosperity, and dignity of 

 his country, its commerce and the convenient subsistence of indi- 

 viduals, will lend his aid," etc. Even at that time, they were pur- 

 suing the new enemies in the field — the canker worm and the slug 

 worm. 



Thus did they turn their swords into ploughshares and their 

 spears into pruning hooks. First the ploughshare, then the prun- 

 ing hook ! The necessities of life demand the first, agriculture ; 

 but civilization and high culture require also, horticulture and 

 floriculture. Fruits soon follow the plough, and flowers follow the 

 fruits ; then comes the combination and arrangement of the ele- 

 ments of these ; and this is the Art of Landscape Gardening — 

 an art ever progressing, and greater than that of the painter 

 who only copies a scene ; for the gardener in Landscape actually 

 creates what he presents, and paints it for the future, with living 



