162 Prof. RusselVs Mdrtss before the 



est by every lover of plants or fruits, and particularly by the 

 enterprising amateur, who will find in it many valuable hints and 

 suggestions in relation to the cultivation of fiuits and flow- 

 ers.— £(/.] 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — 



It is with no ordinary feeling of pleasure, that I again 

 stand in this desk, and appear before you, to address you on 

 the topic of a common interest. 



Since we last met for a similar purpose, more than an en- 

 tire year has elapsed, and, meanwhile, we have anticipated 

 and realized the objects of our solicitude and care. United 

 in a common cause, and that one of the most dignified, as well 

 as philanthropic, which exercises the hands and the mind, I 

 consider it a privilege to address you once more on the sub- 

 ject with which my early and constant taste has rendered me 

 familiar, and to which your attention has manifested an increas- 

 ing interest on your part. 



The range of subjects connected with horticulture is so 

 extensive as always to command the energies and the genius 

 of the mind. From the earliest records of history, to the 

 present glorious era, in its annals there have been a constant 

 and increasing opportunity of adding to our stock of informa- 

 tion, and of advancing its progress. The field of our labors 

 belongs to Nature's details and mysteries, and who can ex- 

 haust them? What varied and profuse subjects are thus thrown 

 open to us, on which human sagacity can always operate! 

 and, at the same time, how striking the fact, that in the study 

 of the simplest or of the most profound of these, there is 

 enough to interest and delight! 



We have passed through a magnificent season, and the vivid 

 tints of an American autumn are warning us of the silent and 

 gradual decay of the vegetable year. The weekly and other 

 exhibitions of our Society have attested not only to the inter- 

 est manifested in horticulture, but to the luxuriance and rich- 

 ness of the past season. Offering, as the last token of our 

 enterprise, the display of the unrivalled dahlia, and about to 

 lay aside these pleasing vocations for the solid charms of the 

 fireside, and the in-door delights of home; we cannot do bet- 

 ter than, before parting, to say a kind, cheering, and farewell 

 word of encouragement and congratulation, to serve as a me- 

 mento for anticipated and renewed pursuits of the same char- 

 acter, when another blooming spring shall return to this portion 

 of the earth. 



