ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF PLANTS. 455 



merely, but you may do far more by cross-breeding. I 

 believe that your produce may be improved and increased 

 by this means beyond what the boldest thinker would at 

 this moment dare to declare. 



The manufacturer is also deeply interested in this 

 question, in at least so far as the raw material he uses is 

 drawn from the vegetable kingdom. As the horticulturist 

 has by selection and cross-breeding increased the size and 

 substance of his flowers, so may the manufacturer or his 

 agents, by selecting from other special points of view, 

 increase the productiveness and strengthen or soften the 

 fibre of their cotton, flax, hemp, and jute. 



Again, if the horticulturist can increase the size and 

 productiveness, advance or retard the seasons, and im- 

 prove and vary the flavour of his fruits, why should not 

 the merchant or his agent do the same with his teas, 

 coffees, cocoa, and other vegetable productions? There 

 can be no question here that the one is as open to 

 modification as the other ; it only requires the thoughtful 

 interposition of the skilled brain and hand. 



Thus we see how vast are the interests here involved, 

 how rich in prospect the unexplored territory in which the 

 horticulturist may be said to be the pioneer. The agri- 

 culturist, the manufacturer, and the merchant should in 

 their own interests, as well as in the interests of society at 

 large, lend him a willing and a helping hand, and he in 

 his turn should rejoice to find his labours acceptable and 

 capable of so wide and beneficial a diffusion. I stand 

 before you this day and declare, what I honestly believe, 

 that we are here waiting but working at one of the chief 

 gateways of a grand Temple of Science, and not many 

 years will elapse ere many of its secrets will be revealed, to 

 the surprise, delight, and profit of the human race. 



