46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALBANY MEETING 



department, and in contributing to the State papers articles on agri- 

 cultural subjects, he wrote on geological topics also, especially between 

 1880 and 1883, while in charge of the cotton culture reports of the Tenth 

 Census. He kept up, however, with the geological work done by others 

 in the Gulf Coastal Plain until the day of his death, and we find critical 

 papers from him in Science, American Journal of Science, and other 

 journals, on matters connected Mdth the geology of the Gulf Coastal Plain. 

 His correspondence with the present writer contains many valuable com- 

 ments on geological topics which have never been in print. 



On the basis mainly of his Mississippi work, Doctor Hilgard was se- 

 lected by Gen. Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of the Tenth Census, 

 to supervise the preparation of the reports on cotton culture for that 

 census. He took hold of this new work with his characteristic energ}^ 

 and thoroughness, and from 1879' to 1883 practically all of his time 

 which could be spared from university duties was devoted to it. He him- 

 self prepared the general discussions and the special reports on Missis- 

 sippi, Louisiana, and California. The mass of correspondence which fell 

 on Doctor Hilgard in fitting and adjusting the several State reports and 

 combining them into a harmonious and consistent whole is something 

 difficult to appreciate. His letters in connection with the Alabama and 

 Florida reports alone were of weekly, often daily, occurrence, and are 

 brimful of interesting and entertaining side remarks and quotations. 



A full appreciation of Hilgard's gifts as a letter writer can be had only 

 by reading the letters themselves, but I give here, by way of illustration, 

 a few characteristic extracts from our correspondence during this time. 

 Once, when we were laboring on the problems of properly distinguishing 

 between certain agricultural divisions, he wrote : 



"Tell the truth and shame the devil in all cases, and as Torrey once said to 

 Doctor Engelmann, when the latter remarked that few persons conld distin- 

 guish two certain species of oak from each other, 'When nobody can distin- 

 guish them, why distinguish them?' " 



And at another time : 



"You worry yourself too much about the manner of doing it, as if you could 

 tell just how by taking forethought: Tarlez vous comme vous der Schnabel 

 gewachsen ist.' as the German remarked to his Alsatian acquaintance, and 

 write it down, and if it does not suit you, cut it and paste it and turn it inside 

 out." 



This advice has often served me a good turn. When speaking about 

 certain county descriptions in the cotton reports, he said : 



"Like yonio other good things, these descriptions are 'very virtuous, but not 

 at all amusing!' " 



