S L B 7? 



apparent in the exhibitions held during the last ten 

 years; we merely note the elements of success under 

 the control of the members of the New York Flor- 

 ists' Club, which are more abundant than in any 

 other part of the world. Roses, chrysanthemums, 

 decorative plants, fruits and miscellaneous cut- 

 flowers can be brought together here in sufficient 

 quantities and variety to make an attractive exhibi- 

 tion each by itself, while a combination of the whole, 

 with taste and haruiony in their arrangement, would 

 make a display far surpasssing any previously wit- 

 nessed. Harmony among the exhibitors is the only 

 element needed to make success certain, and of this 

 there is, at present, a superabundance. If Presi- 

 dent John May will only keep this from evaporation, 



he will confer a great favor on all lovers of flowers. 

 * * 



-X- 



SENSE of proportion seems to be unknown to 

 many minds. A single fact or observation 

 impresses itself upon the mind and generaliza- 

 tions are made from it, even though they may be 

 contradicted by a dozen other facts just as positive ; 

 and this unbalanced mind insists upon its general- 

 ization with all the stubbornness of bigotry. In 

 fact, just this feature of thought is the chief curse 

 of our agriculture, for it runs through all transac- 

 tions and all practices. 



It is admirably illustrated by the current discus- 

 sions of grafting, particularly across the Atlantic. 

 During the last year the whole practice of grafting 

 has been denounced as unwise and unscientific, and 

 numerous instances have been cited to prove that it 

 is followed with ill results. But why will not these 

 writers make a corresponding citation of cases in 

 which good results have followed ? In other words, 

 why cannot fairness and honesty be used here as 

 well as elsewhere ? We grant that instances are 

 many in which ill results follow grafting and bud- 

 ding. We will suppose, in extravagant liberality, 

 that any writer knows ten thousand such instances : 

 then, in honesty, let him count the trees in our 

 orchards, the trees on our lawns, the shrubs in our 

 greenhouses, in which grafting is not onlv beneficial 

 but essential. If one man is a cripple, does the fact 

 prove that all men cannot walk ? 



* 



THE want of encouragement with which horti- 

 culture is treated in many localities is often 

 bewailed, and the poor display made at exhi- 

 bitions in localities horticulturally rich is a matter 

 of great comment. Sometimes the causes that 

 operate to produce this are beyond the control of 

 the societies holding the exhibitions, but would it 

 not be well for the executive officers this season. 



while making plans, to carefully consider once more 

 the matter of premiums? "Premiums too small," 

 is the general complaint among would-be exhibitors : 

 the societies admit it, but say that they can afford 

 no larger ones. Yet they can afford S25 for a horse 

 or cow and only 50 cents for a show of flowers ! 

 One of our state societies offers S50 for the bedt 

 Shorthorn bull, and not half as much for the best 

 general collection of cut- flowers. Yet the expense 

 of taking the animals to the exhibition is rarely as 

 much as it is for the flowers. The flowers are 

 worthless at the close of the fair, no matter how 

 much money and labor have been expended on 

 them. The animals are quite as good as when they 

 left home, and if they receive favorable notice or a 

 prize their value is increased. Often they find a 

 purchaser on the spot at a handsome profit. It is 

 too much to expect us to sacrifice ^50 worth of 

 flowers of our growth or purchase, for the chance 

 honor of getting a $10 or $20 premium for the best 

 floral work. A good flower show will attract more 

 visitors than any department of a fair, except the 

 horse races. 



THERE are few who have not read of "The 

 Angel us,' a little picture that has been ex- 

 hibited for some time past by a firm of picture 

 dealers in New York. Thousands of people have 

 paid for the sake of looking at it, and have regarded 

 it with varying emotions. Many do not hesitate to 

 say that they regard the whole thing as a "fake," 

 gotten up to enrich an ingenious company of specu- 

 lators. Poor Millet, when he painted it, had hard 

 work to sell it at any price. Were he alive and able 

 to furnish many pictures, he would likely find it as dif- 

 ficult to profit by them as by this one. His pictures 

 are now "boomed " and advertised in the most skil- 

 ful and ingenious manner, until those unlearned in 

 art are silenced. Undoubtedly the Angelus shows 

 brush-work and a luminous quality of the atmos- 

 phere both in the lights and shadows that are fine, 

 but these are artistic points only appreciated by few- 

 out of the many thousands that look upon it. But we 

 are told that it is the exalted sentiment which the 

 picture shows, that gives it value and teaches us 

 that there can be a beauty even in the most barren 

 lives. Let us consider it from this point of view, 

 and see if its lessens are moral and good ! Poverty 

 and hardship are hard to bear in all parts of the 

 world, and we welcome any true alleviations that 

 come to the lot of those compelled to endure them, 

 but we think modern knowledge and appliances will 

 do more for us than the methods of the middle 

 ages. If, as we are told, this picture truly repre- 



