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have overcrowded cities and towns, while the country is crying 
aloud for labour. There are many and complex reasons for such 
a social condition, and it is not to be remedied at once or by any 
one specific, but certainly the establishment of institutions such 
as this, where the practical as well as the scientific training will 
be acquired, which will equip our young men for successfully 
cultivating the soil and making it yield its best results, will help 
towards that end. 
I know no better means of inducing those who are dissatisfied 
with their city surroundings, or those who are looking around for 
a healthful and profitable occupation, to engage in fruit-growing 
and kindred pursuits than by affording them the opportunity, such 
as this school offers, of acquiring the most approved methods of 
cultivation and the necessary knowledge before entering upon the 
cares and responsibilities of an orchard on their own account. 
The question is often asked, and variously answered, “What are 
we to do with our boys?” I would reply that for many of them 
the best thing to do would be to send them to the School of Horti- 
culture, where they can qualify themselves for an honorable and 
profitable career. 
Scueme or INSTRUCTION. 
How it is proposed to carry out this necessary and opportune 
scheme of horticultural education may be learned in detail from 
the prospectus of the school and the syllabus of instruction, but 
I may just draw attention to the main features of it. ‘“ Practice 
with Science” is the motto of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England, and is the principle on which this school is to be con- 
ducted. 
Under the guidance of Mr. Neilson, the experienced curator, 
students will prepare the soil, then plant, manure, prune, and cul- 
tivate the various fruit trees and vegetables grown here. The 
fruits will also be gathered and stored by them, and packed either 
for the home or foreign markets. The raising of nursery stock 
will likewise be attended to, and the general management of an 
orchard will be learned under the personal superintendence of Mr. 
Neilson. 
The nomenclature or naming of fruits will likewise be attended 
to, and, generally speaking, pomology, or that branch of know- 
ledge which deals with fruit trees and fruit, will here be taught 
so thoroughly and practically that every student may be expected 
to distinguish himself in that particular branch in after life. 
But as man ought not to live by bread alone, ought not merely 
to dig and plant and reap, and thus become a mere hewer of wood 
and drawer of water, so it is necessary, absolutely necessary at . 
the present time, that he should be trained in the principles, as 
well asin the practice of his art, that he should have scientific 
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