738 Transactions of the American Institute. 



•wanted to buy this place, taking security on it, and rent it till I am 

 able to take it myself? I have pupils announced from almost all tlie 

 States, and the only pressing want is $5,000, of which nearlj' $1,500 

 is subscribed. Some may smile at the smallness of my figures, but 

 all I ask is a chance to begin and show what can be done. I remem- 

 ber that your most successful merchant was a countryman of mine, 

 and that Mr. Astor never despised the day of small things. It is 

 only by doing small things well that we are enabled to do great 

 things. I hear that you have in this city many thousands of single 

 women without fortune. What I propose is to multiply the ways 

 in which they can live without slavery or dishonor. I would open 

 for these thousands other avenues — occupations congenial, wholesome 

 and noble. I would silence that dismal " Song of the Shirt," and 

 replace it by the singing of her who twines the glowing roses, or 

 plucks the purple clusters. 



Mrs. F. B. Hallock. — It will be understood that it is the purpose 

 of this excellent lady to make good wives, good housekeepers, good 

 needlewomen, as well as good gardeners, and it seems to me the enter- 

 prise is worthy of all commendation and support. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller. — There is now an opportunity of ascertaining, 

 by actual experiment, whether a horticultural school can be estab- 

 lished which, unlike the agricultural colleges of the country, shall be 

 successful in accomplishing anything of practical value. It is a ques-- 

 tion in my mind whether, under the circumstances, there is any- 

 possible hidden germ of good in this enterprise, and simply for the 

 reason that the girls of our time are, in their nature, very much like 

 the boys of our time, and the boys of our time incline more to kids 

 and canes and hair parted in the middle, than to any useful industry. 

 but I say very cheerfully that I believe in Miss Marwedel, chiefly, 

 however, because she is German, and accustomed to modes of life 

 more homelike and industrious than ours. 



Mr. H. T. Williams. — When the notion comes to prevail that 

 labor is not degrading, and that brown hands are no disgrace, then 

 there will be more hojie for such an entei-prise. However, the sons 

 and daughters of the day do not evince an inclination to learn the 

 lesson, and I am not sure that we are doing much to aid them in the 

 good way. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — I have never yet seen a young man just gradu- 

 ated from an agricultural college who would be likely to succeed in 

 getting a living from a ten or even a twenty acre field, and yet, with 



