22 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
cheery tones were ever on the side of op¬ 
timism, were ever turning- towards the 
bright side of the picture of horticultural 
struggle and endeavor in this state, were 
ever pointing to new means of combatting 
the elements, of overcoming the natural 
enemies of our chosen industries and 
bolstering up those of less faith and cour¬ 
age. Through all these annual addresses 
runs the constant tone of enlargement 
and improvement, constantlv increasing 
in power, thought and literary finish, 
his last annual address became a fitting 
climax to the long series of addresses with 
which he has enriched the literature of 
our Society. I can well imagine his feel¬ 
ings when preparing his ‘‘Message from 
the Woods.” Like that felt by Bryant 
when he wrote his Thanatopsis, when he 
gave to his age, in poetry, his conception 
of a proper appreciation of nature and 
natural surroundings. Like him feels 
John Burroughs, the nature lover, the 
poet and admirer of the brook, the field, 
the orchard and the forest. How much 
of beauty and poetic feeling and love of 
nature and nature’s God are embodied 
in the president’s last annual address, on¬ 
ly future generations shall fully appreci¬ 
ate. 
Of retrospection this is sufficient. The 
past at least is secure. Our Society hav¬ 
ing passed safely the rapids of its up¬ 
per course and glided successfully along 
into its middle course, now moves for¬ 
ward in the direction of its lower and 
broader course. It has met the questions 
of the past. It has accumulated wisdom 
by experience. It should be, and doubt¬ 
less it is today, well equipped to meet the 
questions of the present, to maintain the 
reputation of the past and to lay broad 
and deep foundations for the achieve¬ 
ments of the future. The problems of to¬ 
day are not more difficult than in the 
past, but they are more complex and di¬ 
verse. There are in them a greater num¬ 
ber of factors even if each factor is of 
less vitality. What message does the pres¬ 
ent bring to us ? 
What duty do we owe the today ? What 
accomplishments can the tomorrow claim 
logically founded upon today ^ Are there 
messages that the horticultural conditions 
of the state at this moment require bring¬ 
ing to your attention? Fortunately we 
stand in the, presence of no calamity. We 
do not surround, as we have sometimes 
done in the past, those conditions that 
buried the hopes of thousands of our peo¬ 
ple. But even those clouds had their 
silver lining*, unseen then, but plainly vis¬ 
ible now. We are in the midst of pros¬ 
perity long continued and pronounced. 
Our industries have been enlarged both 
in number and in volume. Our output 
is greatly increased in every department 
of horticulture. Our sources of know¬ 
ledge, our ability to handle the drawbacks, 
the pests and the evils of our diversified 
industries have been largely increased. 
What then is there to consider? It fre¬ 
quently happens that the most danger¬ 
ous periods are those of greatest prosperi¬ 
ty. It has been well said that, “Security 
is mortal’s chiefest enemy.” 
In the line of thought I shall take to¬ 
night, I may be straying from the beaten 
path, may be leading the way into battle 
fields where the valiant, the sagacious 
and the steadfast of purpose alone can be 
found at the front. The commercial bat¬ 
tles of the present dwarf into insignifi¬ 
cance the battles with insects, with cli¬ 
matic conditions, with all o.ur other ob¬ 
stacles combined. The struggle for new 
markets, for cheaper production, for fair¬ 
er treatment by our agents in the markets. 
