SB 105 
 , .D21 
 Copy 1 
 

 ADDRESS 
 
 before -hie; 
 
 CHESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
 
 AT THEIR FIRST ANNUAL EXHIBITION, IN THE BOROUGH OF 
 WEST CHESTER, SEPT. 11, 1848. 
 
 BY WILLIAM DARLINGTON, M. D, 
 
 Dm que 1 ' homme eut soumis les champs a la culture, 
 D ' ill) lieureux coin de terre il soigna la parure; 
 Et plus pres de ses yeux il rangea sous ses lois 
 Des arbres favoria et des fieurs de| son choix. 
 
 Les Jardins. chant. 1. 
 
 i°*;., 
 
 WEST CHESTER, TENN'A, 
 1846, 
 
2 
 
 Wkst Chapter, September 14, 1846. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 At a meeting of the Committee of Arrangement of tha 
 Chester county Horticultural Society, held September 12th inst., it 
 was on motion, 
 
 (( Resolved, That the thanks of the Committee be tendered to 
 Dr. William Darlington for the able and interesting address deliv- 
 ered by him at the Horticultural Exhibition on the 11th inst., and 
 that a committee be appointed to solicit a copy for publication.' 1 
 Whereupon, the undersigned were appointed said committee. 
 
 In communicating to you the foregoing resolution, allow us to 
 hope that you will furnish us with a copy of the address alluded to, 
 which afforded so much gratification to all who heard it, and which, 
 we indulge the anticipation, will be of no small benefit in diffusing 
 more extensively through the community a taste for the pleasures of 
 Horticulture. With much respect, we remain yours, &c, 
 
 WASHINGTON TOWNSEND, 
 B. FRANKLIN PYLE, 
 JOHN RUTTER, 
 WM. M'CULLOUGH, 
 DAVIS GARRETT, jr. 
 Dr. Wm. Darlington. 
 
 West Chester, September 15, 1846. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 Your favor of yesterday's date is just received. The 
 Address referred to — belonging as it does to the occasion — is, of 
 course, at the disposal of the Committee ; and while I could have 
 wished it more worthy of the honor intended, I shall nevertheless 
 be gratified if the publication may in any way, or in the slightest 
 degree, promote the laudable objects of the Society. 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 WM. DARLINGTON. 
 
 Messrs. Washington Townsenp, 
 B. Franklin Pyle, 
 John Rutter, 
 Wm. M'Cullougii, 
 Davis Garrett, jr. 
 
ADDRESS, &c. 
 
 Mr. President : Ladies and. Gentlemen 
 
 of the Chester County Horticultural Society : 
 
 The Committee appointed to procure a competent 
 person to address you, on this occasion, have, as you per- 
 ceive, been rather unsuccessful in their efforts. It was 
 their wish, and intention, to provide a Discourse worthy 
 of the subject in which you take so lively an interest: 
 but failing in that, they have to solicit your indulgence 
 for the hasty substitute now about to be offered. The 
 duty of preparing that substitute, having been unex- 
 pectedly, and at a late hour, assigned to me, — I should 
 certainly have shrunk from the task, had I not felt that it 
 would seem most ungracious, in a professed admirer of 
 Plants, to refuse a co-operation, in any capacity, with 
 those who have associated expressly to promote the cul- 
 ture of favorite Fruits and Floivers. The theme, more- 
 over, is a rich and prolific one ; and he who cannot be in 
 some degree inspired by the contemplation of its charms, 
 
 must be 
 
 * * ''duller than the fat weed 
 
 * * * on Lethe wharf." 
 
 I shall therefore venture to trespass on your good na- 
 ture, by submitting a few desultory remarks which have 
 occurred to me, in reference to the objects of this Society. 
 
 Horticulture, in the comprehensive sense in which 
 the term is now understood, is unquestionably one of the 
 most elegant and refined — as it is one of the most inter- 
 
t -i I 
 
 esting — of earthly pursuits. It has for its especial objects, 
 the production of the choicest fruits and vegetables — the 
 training of the most ornamental trees and shrubbery — 
 the culture of the sweetest and most beautiful flowers — 
 and the arrangement of the whole in accordance with the 
 principles of a refined, disciplined, unsophisticated taste. 
 It involves, in short, all that is connected with comfort 
 and beauty around our dwellings — all that can gratify the 
 palate, delight the eye, or regale the most fastidious of 
 the senses. As an enlightened Agriculture indicates a 
 superior stage of civilization, in the march of human so- 
 ciety — blending, as it does, scientific illustration with eve- 
 ry utilitarian process, — so a perfect Horticulture may 
 be regarded as the crowning attainment of an intellectual 
 and polished people. To borrow a simile from one of the 
 noblest of the Arts, — the employments of Man, in the 
 successive stages of his advancement, may be compared 
 to the principal Orders of ancient Architecture. In the 
 savage or hunter state, we find the rude unpolished 
 strength of the Tuscan Order. The same rude vigor, 
 with the higher finish and symmetry of the Doric, is seen 
 in the pastoral stage. The combined strength, stateli- 
 ness, and graceful tournure, of the Ionic Order, may be 
 considered as the type of the enlightened Agricultural 
 stage : while the elegant science of Horticulture — the 
 employment and the recreation of Man in his most ele- 
 vated condition — may be regarded as the finishing ac- 
 complishment of Society — the Corinthian Order of hu- 
 man attainments and pursuits. Dedicated to the culture 
 and improvement of the choicest productions of the vege- 
 table creation, it is a pursuit which requires the united 
 qualifications of practical dexterity and scientific skill — 
 with a correct perception of the appropriate and beauti- 
 ful : And while it thus exacts, and promotes, the highest 
 mental accomplishments, it at the same time represses the 
 more sordid or grovelling passions, and cherishes the 
 
[5] 
 
 purer aspirations of the human heart. What can be 
 more propitious to elevation of thought, or more conge- 
 nial with purity of mind — when rightly considered — than 
 the varied attractions of an elegant Garden? It is the 
 place of all others — of a temporal character — best fitted 
 to refine the feelings, and sublimate the affections. Jl 
 Garden was the spot, selected by Divine Wisdom, as the 
 appropriate residence of man, while in the state of pri- 
 meval innocence : and if ever, on this earth, Man should 
 so far improve as to qualify himself for a Paradise re- 
 gained, we may fairly infer that the scene of his terres- 
 trial bliss will, again, be a perfect and beautiful Garden. 
 That the habitual association with interesting plants 
 and flowers exerts a salutary influence on the human 
 character, is a truth universally felt and understood. No 
 one ever dreams of any possibility of mistake, in estimat- 
 ing the disposition of those who delight in gardens, rural 
 walks and arbours, and the culture of elegant shade trees 
 and shrubbery. Who ever anticipated boorish rudeness, 
 or met with incivility, among the enthusiastic votaries of 
 Flora ? Was it ever known, that a rural residence, taste- 
 fully planned, and appropriately adorned with floral 
 beauties, was not the abode of refinement and intelli- 
 gence? Even the scanty display of blossoms in a win- 
 dow — or the careful training of a honey suckle, round a 
 cottage door — is an unmistakeable evidence of gentle 
 spirits, and an improved humanity, within. There may, 
 possibly, be natures so gross, as to be incapable of per- 
 ceiving the beauties of the Vegetable Creation — and 
 altogether inaccessible to the influences of genuine taste, — 
 as it is said, there are persons insensible to the charms of 
 the sweetest music : But I can only imagine the exis- 
 tence of such unfinished specimens of our kind, as the 
 rare exceptions, which logicians say arc the strongest 
 proofs of the general rule. They must, indeed, be the ve- 
 riest clods that ever fell, untempered,from auld Nature's 
 
[6] 
 
 'jorentice han\ Shakspeare, as you know, tells us— 
 " The man that hath no music in himself, 
 Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, 
 Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.' 7 
 
 Now, if such be the character of the man who is so un- 
 fortunate, in relation to the pleasures of a single sense, — ■ 
 what shall we say of him who cannot appreciate the de- 
 lights of a rich and beauteous Garden ? delights, which 
 appeal so directly to each of the senses — and minister so 
 exquisitely to all the jive ! I should say, he was not fit 
 even for "spoils" — which, I believe, is the lowest quali- 
 fication recognized at the present day : and 1 would hear- 
 tily concur in the judgment, pronounced by the bard : — ■ 
 
 ' : Let no such man he trusted.'''' 
 Such, then, being the nature — the influences and the ten- 
 dencies — of Horticulture, in the comprehensive and just 
 acceptation of the term, — it is an occasion of sincere 
 congratulation, to see the citizens of this ancient county 
 awakening to a perception of its benefits, and associating 
 to promote its advancement. Having, by their skill and 
 industry, made the Agriculture of Chester the admira- 
 tion of all observers, — it next becomes an urgent duty to 
 make their Gardens, their Orchards, and the Lawns ap- 
 pertenant to their dwellings, correspond with the beauty 
 and excellence of their farms. The time, indeed, has 
 fully arrived, when such a movement is due to our char- 
 acter, as a community : for candor will oblige us to con- 
 fess, that, while our farming has been managed with 
 commendable skill and neatness — we have been sadly 
 neglectful of our Horticulture — that elegant department 
 of the Profession, which is the crowning attainment of 
 an accomplished agricultural people. The true Science 
 of Gardening does not come by intuition ; but is to be 
 acquired by a rational and studious attention to the opera- 
 tion of established laws. The art of increasing the size, 
 and improving the quality, of vegetable products — to be 
 
[V] 
 
 completely successful — demands a close observation of 
 natural phenomena, and an intimate acquaintance with 
 the physiology of plants. The influence of culture and 
 soil, upon vegetable development, is a most interesting 
 problem — which has not yet been thoroughly solved, and 
 is generally, in fact, but little understood. 
 
 Those plants which have been long under cultivation, 
 are continually undergoing modifications in their tissues — 
 and producing variations of form, dimensions, texture, 
 color, or flavor. This phenomenon is especially remark- 
 able in some old favorites, which have been carefully 
 nursed for ages ; — such as the Rose and the Tulip, among 
 flowers, — and the Pear, the j^pple, and the Peach, among 
 fruits : and it is by watching this process in the vegetable 
 economy — by a skillful selection and management of the 
 best varieties, thus produced, — that the apparently acci- 
 dental features and qualities are fixed, or become perma- 
 nent ; — establishing what are called races, in the language 
 of Botany. It is in this way, that the countless sorts of 
 our choice fruits and vegetables have been obtained. — 
 They are all mere progressive developments, or modifica- 
 tions, of a few wild unpalatable originals, which have 
 been gradually tempered and ameliorated by the influ- 
 ences of a kindly nourishing soil, a propitious situation, 
 and a continued skillful treatment. The sagacious Gar- 
 dener avails himself of those occasional developments, — 
 and by a careful culture, perpetuates beautiful forms, or 
 valuable qualities, which otherwise would be as transient 
 as the individual specimens in which they occur. 
 
 If an excellent variety happen in a woody perennial — 
 such as a fruit tree, — the original tree — and of course 
 the identical sort of. fruit — may be multiplied indefinitely, 
 by the process of budding, or ingrafting. If it occur 
 in a herbaceous or annual plant, it may often be perpetu- 
 ated, as a distinct sort, or race, by a proper attention to 
 the culture, and a careful selection of the fairest seed 
 
[8 I 
 
 planting. This truth is constantly exemplified, m th« 
 preservation of distinct varieties, or races, of cultivated 
 grains (such as bearded and beardless wheat — white 
 wheat — red-chaff, &c), and also in numerous garden ve- 
 getables, — in which the peculiarities are fixed, and trans- 
 missible to future crops by the seeds. The character of 
 the best varieties, yet known, may doubtless be still fur- 
 ther improved, by the continued influence of appropriate 
 management ; — as is evinced by the specimens annually 
 exhibited by the various horticultural societies. 
 
 That these important facts and principles have been but 
 little heeded or considered, by a portion of our people, is 
 too obvious to be denied. We are bound in honesty to 
 admit, that while our Agricultural fellow citizens may 
 justly pride themselves on the condition and products of 
 their fields, — numbers of them have been utterly neglect- 
 ful of their Orchards and Gardens; and have discovered 
 no manner of taste in the arrangements around their 
 dwellings. There are yet too many instances, in Chester 
 County, of tolerably cultivated farms, on which there is 
 scarcely any other visible evidence of improvement ; — no 
 horticulture — except a paltry, weedy, neglected kitchen 
 garden ; no well-selected Orchard of fruit trees ; no green 
 sward, nor clustering flowers, nor ornamental shrubbery, 
 around the farm-house ; not even a friendly shade-tree, 
 to. protect the dwelling from the glare of the summers 
 sun. Too often we may see the residence of a substan- 
 tial farmer, naked and broiling, as it were, in one of his 
 open tree-less fields, — without so much as a palisade to 
 keep the stock at a respectful distance from his doors — 
 the persecuted cattle contending hopelessly against a 
 swarm of flies under the windows of his sitting-room, 
 and crowding, as to a place of refuge, into the narrow 
 shadow afforded, by the building itself ;— while the un- 
 ringed swine are either wallowing in the drain of the 
 kitchen — or wantonly rooting up the footway at the very 
 entrance to his domicil ! 
 
m 
 
 How repugnant is such a scene, to every idea of re 
 finement and comfort ! How offensive to every corpo- 
 real sense — as well as to every sense of moral fitness and 
 propriety ! What can be expected from a family, raised 
 under circumstances so unpropitious to the formation of 
 a correct taste, or the cultivation of the finer feelings ? 
 The children so brought up, may, indeed, be fitted to mi- 
 grate from such a home — and be prepared to exchange 
 it, without regret, for the rude accommodations of our 
 wild frontiers : but they can have no conception of the 
 sentiments inspired by lovely scenery around the pater- 
 nal mansion. They can know nothing of the charms and 
 abiding moral influences of a pleasant homestead, upon 
 the susceptible minds of the young. Their early years 
 being thus destitute, they will necessarily be strangers to 
 those precious associations, by which memory renews 
 the delights of a happy childhood— and links the dreamy 
 enjoyments of youth with the sober realities of after life. 
 But, at the present day, there is really no excuse for any 
 such culpable improvidence — such boorish negligence of 
 all that can adorn a country residence, or afford the com- 
 forts of a rural home. 
 
 There is no necessity, in this climate and country, for 
 any family to be destitute of the luxuries derived from 
 the Garden and the Orchard ; and consequently, no apolo- 
 gy can be offered for those sluggards, who neglect to 
 plant for themselves,— and yet, in the season of fruits, 
 have the assurance recklessly to trespass upon their 
 more provident neighbors. Such persons do not merely 
 violate good manners, by their rudeness : they train up 
 those about them with exceedingly loose notions of 
 moral honesty. It is high time there was a reformation 
 wrought among such people: and I firmly believe there 
 can be no agency devised, so efficacious in promoting that 
 reform, as Institutions of the kind wbich I have now the 
 honor to address. They propose, by a general co-opera- 
 
 2 
 
[10] 
 
 tion, to make the culture of vegetable delicacies so uni- 
 versal, and so productive, that there shall be neither pre- 
 text nor motive for the plundering of Orchards and Gar- 
 dens. They demonstrate the practicability of their gen- 
 erous purpose, by the most encouraging examples ;— and 
 good examples, happily, are sometimes contagious, as 
 well as those which are evil We may, therefore, rea- 
 sonably hope to see a decisive movement among our 
 people, in reference to gardening, and the cultivation of 
 choice fruit. I hold that every farmer, great and small, 
 every occupant of soil, whether he reckon by acres, or by 
 perches, — is bound to plant, and provide the products of 
 the Orchard and Garden — in justice to his neighbors, as 
 well as to his own family: and they can all perform that 
 obvious duty, if they choose. There is nothing wanting 
 to effect that desirable object, but the will; and a correct 
 public sentiment would avail much in controlling and re-- 
 gulating the volitions of the inconsiderate. There is 
 scarcely a house-holder in the community, who does not 
 occupy a lot sufficient for a garden, — or who has not 
 room for a few select fruit trees. It is a mere idle pretext, 
 for any one to allege that he has no space, nor leisure, for 
 their cultivation. I doubt whether there be a tenement 
 in the land (there surely need not be), which has not 
 ground enough annexed to admit, for example, a Peach 
 tree, a May-duke cherry, an Apricot, a Pear tree, and a 
 Grape vine. These are the fruits so universally and 
 eagerly run after, in their season ; and one or more of 
 these popular favorites could certainly be accommodated 
 about the humblest cottage in Chester county. It, will 
 never do, therefore, for those who can find time to rob 
 the Orchards of their neighbors, to pretend that they have 
 not leisure to plant a tree or two at their own doors.— 
 Such unworthy practices, and dishonest subterfuges, 
 should be promptly shamed, or frowned, out of existence. 
 I have thought I could already perceive, in our vicinity, 
 
[11] 
 
 evidences of a growing disposition to cultivate both use- 
 ful and ornamental trees and shrubbery. Unquestiona- 
 bly, as the exhibition before us abundantly demonstrates, 
 there has been a decided advance in the production of 
 choice garden vegetables, — and in the taste for cultivat- 
 ing rare and beautiful flowers. For this improvement, 
 we have been chiefly indebted to the labors and example 
 of the spirited pioneers, who prepared the way for the 
 establishment of this Society. These public benefactors 
 have presented us with new views of what may be done 
 for a community, by an enlightened Horticulture : and 
 wore it not for the awkardness of jjerscuial allusions, in 
 the presence of the parties, I should be tempted to notice 
 more explicitly, than I shall now venture to do, the 
 commendable zeal of our worthy President, — and the 
 exemplary efforts of a Rutter and a Rivintjs — a Town- 
 send and a Garrett — a Hoopes, a Taylor, a M'Ilvain, 
 a Steele, a Hartman, a Strode, an Embree, and a 
 Stromberg — with other valuable co-laborers in the noble 
 cause.* Not satisfied with showing us, by their several 
 examples, what can be done by individual enterprize in 
 behalf of horticulture, they sought to concentrate the en- 
 ergies of its friends in a united effort for its advancement. 
 They established this Institution, — and invited the co-op- 
 eration of every one who feels an interest in its laudable 
 objects. In this movement, too — as always when benefits 
 are to be conferred upon our race — they have been hap- 
 pily sustained by the countenance and participation of 
 the Gentler Sex. 
 
 With such purposes, and under such auspices, we can- 
 not but anticipate the most satisfactory results. As already 
 
 * In any notice of the public-spirited lew, who Jed the way in 
 introducing an improved Horticulture among us, it would be inex- 
 cusable not to mention the laudable example of the Misses Ben- 
 nett, of this Borough — who were among the foremost in cultivating 
 Vegetables of a superior quality, and showing how our market may 
 be supplied with tho choicest products of the Gaiden. 
 
[12 j 
 
 remarked, the agency of the Society, in extending infor- 
 mation, and awakening a perception of the beautiful, 
 cannot fail to be salutary : for the example of a pure taste 
 has an irresistible influence upon all minds which are not 
 utterly insensible to the beauties of Nature and Art. 
 
 As the classic Portico which adorns our village, will 
 be a sure guarantee against the erection of any uncouth 
 pile in its vicinity, — so will the display of true taste, and 
 the exhibition of practical skill, in Horticulture, neces- 
 sarily influence all who have the slightest aptitude for 
 improvement; and will eventually banish from amongst 
 us every vestige of barbarism, in the decoration of our 
 grounds and the management of our gardens. 
 
 The great charm of the scenery, so universally felt by 
 those who visit our mother country, consists in the high 
 state of its Agriculture, and the admirable fitness, and 
 symmetry, in the arrangements of the gardens, and of 
 the lawns, trees, and shrubbery, around the dwellings. 
 These are every way worthy of our studious attention — 
 and present the purest models for our instruction, in the 
 art of embellishing rural residences. 
 
 Washington Irving — whose judgment in the premi- 
 ses will scarcely be questioned — remarks, that "the taste 
 of the English in the cultivation of land, and in what is 
 called Landscape Gardening, is unrivalled. They have 
 studied nature intently, and discovered an exquisite sense 
 of her beautiful forms and harmonious combinations. — 
 Those charms which in other countries she lavishes in 
 wild solitudes, are here assembled around the haunts of 
 domestic life. They seem to have caught her coy and 
 furtive graces, and spread them like witchery about their 
 rural abodes." 
 
 Why should not we, also, commence the capture and 
 domestication of those " coy and furtive graces," which 
 a bountiful Nature — or rather, a beneficent Providence — 
 has lavished upon our own country, — and which haunt 
 
[13] 
 
 every Glen, and Valley, and Hill-side, and Mountain top, 
 throughout our favored land ? 
 
 To aid us in this enterprise, we have the elegant and 
 instructive works of Loudon, upon the art as practised in 
 the old world, — and of our accomplished countryman, 
 Downing, upon the theory and practice of Landscape 
 Gardening, adapted to North America. By the gentle- 
 man last named, we have been supplied with a scientific 
 treatise upon the Fruits and Fruit-trees of our country — 
 as well as with instruction in the best modes of laying 
 out and adorning our grounds: and he is, moreover, at 
 this time, publishing a highly interesting monthly Maga- 
 zine, intitled "The Horticulturist, and Journal of 
 Rural Art and Rural Taste."* Conducted by such 
 guides — and profiting by the sagacious experience of all 
 nations, — if we are docile, attentive, and persevering, we 
 can scarcely fail to accomplish the objects of our Associ- 
 ation. We may hope to be efficiently instrumental in 
 arousing the public mind, throughout our ancient baili- 
 wick, to a just sense of the importance and value of a 
 perfect Horticulture. A French king, we are told, ac- 
 quired some celebrity by uttering the benevolent wish, 
 that he could supply a chicken to the dinner-pot of each 
 of his subjects. That was a mere ebullition of kind feel- 
 ing, on the part of Royalty, — and really added nothing 
 to the meagre dinners of the French people : But the 
 operations and tendencies of Societies such as ours, are 
 calculated to effect something more than mere good 
 wishes. An improved Horticulture will not only fill the 
 dinner-pots with all sorts of nutritious esculents — but it 
 
 * To instruct us in the management of the Flower and Kitchen 
 Garden, we have "The American Gardener's Calendar," by the late 
 Bernard M'Mahon— one of the pioneers, among us, in the good 
 work of teaching Horticulture. Although his book was published 
 forty years ago, it is, in my opinion, about as well adapted to our 
 wants— and as replete with good practical common sense— as any 
 thing of the kind which has yet appeared in our country. 
 
[14] 
 
 will load the tables, of all who attend to its teachings, 
 with every variety of delightful fruits. The Majesty of 
 France indulged in a vain aspiration: but ive look to sub- 
 stantial benefits — and to the certain means of conferring 
 them. 
 
 By well-directed efforts, we may also be the means of 
 causing those beautiful visions to be yet realized, which 
 were long since entertained, in Chester county, by a few 
 choice spirits within her borders. At an early day — 
 when the perceptive faculties of the masses were unim- 
 proved by Education, and blunted by the unavoidable 
 drudgery of a rude Agriculture, — our County produced 
 men whose taste and refinement were so far in advance 
 of the times, that they actually dreamt of pleasure- 
 grounds, and Botanic Gardens; — and consequently, those 
 strange conceits were very imperfectly appreciated, by 
 their contemporaries. A Botanic Garden was then con- 
 sidered as one of the practical vagaries of an eccentric 
 mind — the embodyment of a monomania — instead of be- 
 ing prized as a nursery of taste, and an instrument of know- 
 ledge — a means by which the value of new discoveries, 
 and the practicability of their culture, may be speedily 
 and economically tested, for the information of all. Yet, 
 even in the midst of that intellectual fog, there were 
 minds (and honored be their memory!) whose radiance 
 could illustrate the importance of such Institutions, — and 
 whose energies could effect their introduction. 
 
 If I mistake not, the second Garden in this confedera- 
 ted Empire of Republics (the Jirst being also in this 
 State,) designed for the culture and distribution of rare 
 and valuable plants, was established at Marshallton, in 
 Chester county; — and Humphrey Marshall, its vener- 
 able founder, was the author of the first treatise upon 
 our vegetable treasures, that was issued from the Ameri- 
 can Press. His example, in founding a Botanic Garden, 
 was soon followed by another estimable citizen of the 
 
[15] 
 
 county — -the lalo amiable John Jackson, of Londou 
 grove. A third exemplification of rural taste and ele- 
 gance, was furnished by the brothers, Samuel and 
 Joshua Pierce, of East Marlborough, — who, by their 
 splendid collection of Evergreens, and other kindred em- 
 bellishments, have made their farm one of the most de- 
 lightful rural residences within this commonwealth. 
 
 What those worthy citizens accomplished, from the 
 promptings of their own good taste — when there were 
 few to appreciate, and none to co-operate — may surely 
 be attempted by us, — now that the progress of refine- 
 ment, all around us, not only invites to the performance, 
 but reproves our delay in the undertaking. 
 
 Let us resolve, then, to persevere in the good work, 
 until our beautiful Science shall have diffused its bless- 
 ings over this entire community — and all its mysteries 
 and manipulations shall be as familiarly understood, as 
 are the simplest processes of Agriculture. Let the acqui- 
 sition of skill, and a thoroughly disciplined taste, be our 
 constant aim: for we may rely upon it, that fruitful gar- 
 dens, and embellished farms, will as surely follow those 
 attainments, as the brilliance of day results from the ris- 
 ing of an unclouded sun. 
 
 Let us endeavor to hasten the period, when our County 
 shall be as eminent in Horticulture, as in the other de- 
 partments of rural economy — and when our Village 
 shall be known throughout the land, as a favorite seat of 
 Science and Refinement, — equally distinguished for the 
 intelligence and urbanity of its people — the number and 
 excellence of its scholastic Institutions — the rich produc- 
 tiveness and the tasteful elegance of its Gardens. 
 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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