20S [Assembly 



to 'be developed by the care and skill of gardeners, to thousands in 

 number. And do not fail, Ladies, to examine the flowers with a pow- 

 erful microscope. You will then find your admiration of them elevated 

 10 adoration of God, who elaborates their rich colors and their perfumes 

 from the brown earth on which you tread, and from the air and light ! 

 Their magnified beauty is indescribable. 



Let me, while I now enjoy the nratifying opportunity, in behalf of 

 the American Institute, ask you to take care of the realm of flowers ! 

 Maintain its power over men along with your own, to soften and ren- 

 der that harder subject more and more civilized ! To meet him when 

 he comes from the sturdy toil of the field, with a bouquet of lovely 

 flowers ; and your yet more enchanting smiles. Without you and the 

 Jlowers he is indeed but a savage ! 



You cannot fail to observe that there is an intimate sympathy be- 

 tween the religion of men and the honest and delightful employment in 

 a garden. It is almost a certainty that the garden of the country cler- 

 gyman is a good one. In that alone, of our temporal concerns, we 

 perceive at once, that the spiritual pastor is at home. Innocence, 

 health and cheerfulness are nurtured, and flourish in the garden. He 

 cannot be a lawyer, a merchant, or a politician, without impropriety ; 

 but a garden is his natural home ; and happy the pastor who, by early 

 rising and proper labor in it, prepares his mind with its purifying in- 

 fluences, and his body by the physical energy which it infuses, to 

 labor in his holy calling, for the eternal good of his congregation. 



The American Institute, in carrying out the great objects of its char- 

 ter, has devoted much of its time and ability to the main good — Agri- 

 culture. With a view to gather wisdom from numbers, it has called 

 a convention of farmers, gardeners and silk growers, from all quarters 

 of the land, to meet in this city this day. This assembly will again 

 apply its force to the establishment of an Agricultural Department of 

 Government. The members approach that subject with the last best 

 advice of the illustrious Washington to us, couched in the following 

 terms, " It will not be doubted that, with reference either to individual 

 or national welfare, agriculture is of primary importance. In propor- 

 tion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of ma- 

 turity, this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultivation 

 of the soil more and more an object of public patronage. Institutions 

 for promoting it grow up, supTpovied by the public 2iurse ? And to 



