1885.] TRANSACTIONS. 11 



other ? As before stated, — it is not denied that Exhibitions liave 

 their value ; but, — do they comprise the whole duty of the 

 Horticultural man ? Are they the oniy means of " advancing 

 the Science, and encouraging and improving the practice of 

 Horticulture ?" The writer has beheld with admiration (with 

 some mortification, — shall it not be confessed ?) the persistent 

 efforts of the Worcester Natural History Society to develop and 

 foster the study of Botany. Without endowment ; — over all 

 obstacles ; — worse still, against indifference ; — it has persevered, 

 until zeal has succeeded inertia and large classes devote them- 

 selves to the pursuit, mastering at least the rudiments of the 

 science. Was not, — is not, — that our appropriate work ? Was 

 not, — is not, — that, or something very like it, the obligation that 

 our founders assumed, when they solicited and obtained a 

 charter ? Was it not for such an expressly declared purpose 

 that they were authorized to hold real and personal estate and 

 clothed with certain specified powers and privileges ? " To 

 advance the Science and encourage and improve the Practice of 

 Horticulture !" Surely, the motive and duty are sufiiciently 

 exalted to fulfil any ambition. Should not this Society awake 

 to the complete measure of its opportunities; and not alone by 

 its accumulation of Books (too little read !) not alone by its dis- 

 tribution of prizes, of value doubtless, but soon expended ; but, 

 by every other means in its power, bend its energies so as more 

 thoroughly to accomplish its mission ! 



Much is heard, in our day, of the future University; — the con- 

 geries of schools wherein all learning shall be summed up and 

 delivered to throngs of attentive and rapt students. Might we 

 not secure it, easily and speedily, here in Worcester, were we to 

 open our eyes and be true to ourselves ? In dreams of the 

 writer, the Mechanic Arts have found a generous patron in the 

 Association that now assumes the title ; but refuses the duties 

 and abnegates the functions that should accompany it. Where 

 it should be the complement of the Technical Institute, it is con- 

 tent to collect its rents, or to distribute among its members their 

 allotted share of tickets to song or dance. Another dream has 

 beheld the Farm of the Agricultural Society, — a farm and not a 

 track for stale geldings, with hide-bound legs and armored hoofs ! 



