i6 



I ever knew he was the least selfish, and the most cheerful. 

 He was literally a man without guile. He loved this State 

 with a rare devotion. He believed that small as it was, it 

 had in it all the elements of wealth and prosperity, and of 

 political greatness, and I remember the pride with which 

 he turned to the result of the census of i860, which 

 showed that the agricultural value of the land in the State 

 of New Jersey had increased more than that of any other 

 State in the United States. He used to speak of this State 

 as a natural garden, as a source of supply of all the higher 

 articles of culture, not the cereals merely, but such vegeta- 

 bles as supply the markets of the great cities, and 

 especially of fruits and flowers. 



It was his ambition to have the people of the State of 

 New Jersey understand their own resources and possibili- 

 ties of development, and I am sure that if this State has 

 held its own, as it has, and has advanced upon its condi- 

 tion in i860, it is largely due to the personal devotion and 

 the untiring industry of Doctor Cook in making known in 

 every part of the State the advantages which it possesses 

 and the best directions in which to encourage develop- 

 ment. Along the coast he explored the marls and green 

 sands, and demonstrated the vast, inexhaustible fund of 

 fertility which nature has given to this State in the phos- 

 phate deposits of that region. In the central portion and 

 northern portion of the State he was careful to point out 

 that there was a large area of the most fertile land in the 

 world, made worthless by the overflow of the back waters 

 of the Pequest and Passaic rivers. Next he pointed out 

 the enormous value of the clays of New Jersey, which are 

 destined to make it the center of the production of pot- 

 tery of every kind. The product of that business in this 

 State is now in advance of any other, in the perfection and 

 quantity of the pottery ware. This is entirely due to 

 Doctor Cook's careful work and the manner in which he 



