FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
7 
I have always held this because I believe it is a good thing 
for us to meet yearly in this city which is the gateway of 
entrance and exit. This is the proper place to hold our ses¬ 
sions, for the great trial of country life is its solitude and 
loneliness. One reason, if not the principal reason why our 
young men leave the country and go into the cities to live, 
is because of this loneliness; and we know that there are 
many who, year after year, never go outside of their county, 
and for them how wearisome the life of the farmer must be¬ 
come. Now, I maintain, that we should have an oppor¬ 
tunity once a year, at least, to meet in the city through whose 
gates the wonderful products of our farms and orchards have 
passed, freighted with the hopes and wishes of hearts anxious 
for the outcome. It has been said sometimes that Jackson¬ 
ville does not care for meetings of this sort; that it does not 
rcare to have within its borders assemblies of the nature of 
this society, but it has never occurred to me that we would 
lack a welcome, and the kind and eloquent words of the 
mayor show that Jacksonville is not insensible of her in¬ 
debtedness to those whom we represent for their part in the 
splendid progress which she is making. Indeed, we may 
judge of our success by hers, and when we look upon her new 
and handsome buildings, her paved streets, her deep water to 
the sea, her promise of improved water front, and see every¬ 
where the air of business activity and prosperity, we may 
■properly feel that a portion of this prosperity is due to us 
*nd our efforts. And, this being true, it would seem that we 
are not so poor and so unsuccessful as some would make us 
appear. 
“I believe that one of the things we ought to do while here 
is to enter our protest against the idea which is so vigorously 
pushed that we are on the verge of disruption, so to speak, 
as a band of men engaged in the particular industry of fruit 
growing; that it is so unpromising and so fruitless that we 
may as well desert it at once and altogether. We believe, as 
I have said, that it is due in part to our efforts—and the 
mayor very properly admits this fact—that Jacksonville is 
making such rapid and marvelous improvements. If the old 
adage be true that when the tiller of the soil is impoverished, 
the marts of commerce suffer; we have here the proof that we 
are not in such bad shape as we are shown by some to be. 
We do not see any evidence of suffering in Jacksonville. On 
the contrary, every sign of vigorous, healthfui, prosperous 
and substantial growth, and from this we may take heart and 
go home encouraged to our work. It is an object lesson, 
Mr. President, for everyone, and I am sqre it will inspire us 
all to renewed industry. 
