1837.] Transactions of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India. 331 



good may be expected to result from its persevering exertions in the 

 course it is now pursuing. While we thus call on the managers of the 

 Society's affairs, at the presidency, diligently to perform the responsi- 

 ble duties they have voluntarily undertaken, we would remind its mem- 

 bers, now widely scattered over the interior, that the largest streams are 

 but the aggregate of numerous rills, and that, without their constant con- 

 tributions, the most mighty rivers would soon be reduced to barren san- 

 dy beds ; that it is therefore incumbent on them, if they wish well to 

 the country and institution, to afford assistance by contributing all the 

 information in their power. 



But should the application of the Society fail in procuring for it the 

 solicited aid, let it be borne in mind, that it is not the pampered 

 nursling, brought up in the lap of luxury, but he who has from his in- 

 fancy been trained in the school of adversity, that generally proves the 

 most efficient man. In case of disappointment, therefore, there must 

 not be despair, but a redoubling of the Society's exertions* Let it be 

 remembered, that even the Calcutta Society, with all its advantages, Was 

 at one time reduced to the brink of ruin, from which it was only saved 

 by the energy of a few of its members. 



If such was the case there, in the midst of a dense population, with 

 numerous supporters, and in the receipt of an annual donation from 

 government, it need not be wondered at, if on this side of India, depriv- 

 ed of such advantages, the Madras Society has to encounter similar 

 shocks : but let warning \>e taken to avoid the rock on which the Cal- 

 cutta Society <so nearly foundered, namely, a too exclusive attention to 

 horticultural operations, leading to the ruin of the funds, and the neg* 

 lect of the other and more important objects of the institution. 



While we thus warn our friends against falling into so grave an error, 

 we disclaim all connection with those persons who urge exclusive at- 

 tention to agriculture, to the neglect of horticulture, on the part of the 

 Society as a body. They seem to forget, that a large portion of the 

 natives live almost exclusively on vegetable food ; that the introduction 

 of our better sorts of culinary vegetables is an object of paramount im- 

 portance, and that this must be accomplished by the conviction, on their 

 parts, that ours are better than their own ; a conviction, which can only 

 be established by actual demonstration, and not by assertion. 



At the cutset of its career the Bengal Society acted on this principle, 

 and, aided by premiums, with such success, in teaching the natives our 

 mode of culture and the superiority of our vegetables, that it can now 

 dispense with so costly an appendage as a garden. That a similar effect 

 is in progress here, is evident from the marked improvement in quality 

 of the last show of vegetables, as compared with the preceding. But 

 the advantage of forming horticultural schools, though a great one, is 

 not the only or even principal benefit derived from such establishments. 



