November, 1918 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
27 
den whose wealth is reckoned in 
millions, has amassed his fortune 
largely from the nursery and 
fruit growing business. Living 
within scarcely more than a 
stone’s throw of the cottage I left 
at Geneva last spring on coming 
to Wisconsin, lives another suc- 
cessful man, whose wealth is also 
expressed in millions — Mr. Wil- 
liam Smith, of the firm of W. & T. 
Smith. This gentleman I am told, 
commenced his business career in 
this country something more than 
30 years ago by growing straw- 
berries on a little plat of ground 
about three acres in extent and 
selling the fruits in the neighbor- 
ing village of Geneva. The busi-* 
ness of this great firm has, I be- 
lieve, been confined almost exclu-/ 
sively to the nursery and its de-* 
velopment is only the natural re- 
sult of the application of sound 
business principles and enterprise. 
Horticulture, then, offers a field 
not only for a reliable means of 
securing a livelihood, but of finan- 
cial success as well. But this is 
not its only advantage as an oc- 
cupation. 
Its Food Contributions 
No other occupation contrib- 
utes so much to the direct food 
supply of the family as certain 
branches of horticulture. The 
pomologist and vegetable garden- 
er may revel at home in many of 
the delicacies of the market at 
least possible cost and in their 
freshest possible condition. While 
I would not uphold this as the 
highest argument in favor of pom- 
ology and gardening as callings, 
it is not to be despised, especially 
as the very products that these 
occupations contribute are of the 
most wholesome kind. 
It Promotes Open Air Life 
Health is perhaps the greatest 
boon God has given to men. 
Without it all other blessings are 
of trifling importance. With it, 
life may be happy even with very 
meagre opportunities. The out- 
door life, the moderate labor, and 
the wholesome food that are the 
natural accompaniments to the 
work of the horticulturist pro- 
mote health in perhaps as great a 
degree as any human occupation. 
Many who have found health 
waning under the confinement 
and excitements of city life have 
sought and found restoration in 
the freedom and peacefulness of 
horticultural pursuits. For this 
reason, if for no other, any young 
man, especially one of feeble con- 
stitution might do well to choose 
horticulture for his life work. 
Its Allurements to Study 
Again, horticulture furnishes 
constant allurements to study. 
Its science is, as we shall see later 
a fabric woven of threads from^ 
almost all other sciences. It' 
i 
deals, on the one hand, with the 
intricate chemistry and physics of 
the soil, the atmosphere and the 
sunbeam, and on the other with 
the inscrutible phenomena of life 
with its enemies and diseases. Its 
pursuit offers fields for investiga - x 
tion that are worthy the highest 
genius of any age. While I 
would not uphold horticulture as 
an easy passport to fame, it is 
none the less true that some of its 
devotees have gained wide spread 
and lasting repute from their la- 
bors in this field. Many of the 
links in Mr. Darwin’s famous 
chain of evolution were gathered 
from the domain of horticulture. 
The experiments of Thomas An- 
drew Knight have caused him to 
be revered as the father of scien- 
tific horticulture and the writings 
of Vilmorin, Loudon, Downing, 
and others are doubtless known 
and read throughout the educated 
world. 
The economic importance of 
some of the still unsolved prob- 
lems in horticulture is such that 
he who aids in solving them will 
confer a blessing upon his whole 
race. It shall be my aim, in the 
course of these lectures, to point 
out, as we come to them, some of 
these problems, sometimes with 
hints as to their possible solution. 
Its Moral Tendencies 
One of the most important ar- 
guments in favor of horticulture 
as a vocation is its moral tenden- 
cies. Few other occupations 
bring their workers into more con- 
stant and intimate communion 
with nature — the great teacher 
whose lessons are always salutory. 
The horticulturist cannot defraud 
nature if he will. Dealing with 
her lie reaps what he sows. Her 
teachings are on the side of in- 
dustry, frugality, temperance and 
reverence. If she allures him to 
study, she also points with a 
thousand index fingers to the di- 
vine Creator and Father for whom 
and by whom are all things. 
Recapitulation 
By way of recapitulation, I 
mention again as the plausible 
claims that horticulture offers to 
the young man who is casting 
about for a life work 
1. A tolerably certain means of 
livelihood. 
2. Its food contributions. 
3. It promotes open air life. 
4. Its allurements to study. 
5. Its moral tendencies. 
