The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1885-02-04
horticultural Society.

We take the following interesting ex-
tract from the address Of the President
at the recent meeting OF the Mississippi
Valley Horticultural Society las published
by the Times Democrat:
81 wish here to give full and just cred
it to the Board of Management, and es
especially to the Director General of this
Exposition foH the very liberal manner
in which they have met the views and
provided for the needs of this horticul
tural department. They have authorized
a premium list of unprecedented liberal
ity and comprehensiveness, aggregatlng
ten times as much as was ever before Of
fered for similar products they have
erected one of the largest and finest hor
ticultural buildings III the world for our
exhibition they have sent one Of the
most eminent horticulturists of the age
as commissioners for this exhibition to
foreign counties; they have expended
large sums in Transforming what was but
a few months since wilderness of
weeds, full Of pitfalls and morasses into
an incomplete, but yet comfortable and
promising park; and they have in all
ways shown an appreciation of the value
of horticulture as a great factor in the
nations civilization, which should en-
title them to the lasting gratitude of all
friends of that cause.
And yet, with all these advantages in
our favor, we have not accomplished
quite as much as we hoped for. We
have not been able to induce the leading
fruit and plant growers of some of our
State to contribute to our exhibits.
There are many men and firms who have
grown wealthy upon the patronage of
the horticultural public, who yet have
not seen it their duty to help make more
complete this first attempt at an inter-
national exhibition of horticulture. These
gentlemen will perhaps grow more liber-
al when they grow more wise. And then
some of our exhibits from abroad have
been greatly damaged, and others have
failed TO reach us entirely, owing to en-
barrassing detention in our custom
houses. And again, very many import
ant exhibits which were promised to our
foreign commission appear to have never
been sent at all.
But Notwithstanding all OF these draw
backs, which we should have expected,
presume we are able to offer you to-
day horticultural exhibition, which for
extent, variety and instructiveness was
never before equaled in the world. We
have to-day exhibits of fruits or plants,
or both, from thirty-six American States
and Territories, from eleven foreign ma
tons, and from three foreign provinces,
in all from Just fifty States and countries
and exhibits are promised and expected,
later in the season, from several other
countries. We have on our tables to-day
nearly 10000 plates of fruit, representing
all kinds OF soil and all sorts of climates,
from the rich iungles of Nicaragua to
the mountains of Colorado and Idaho, or
the cold northern plains of Quebec; from
the semi-tropic orchards of Florida to
the rich valleys of California and Ore
gon. We can show you more than a
hundred varieties ofapples from England
some of which are said to come from
trees older than the American nation it.
self. We can show you MANY varieties
from the far off plains of Central Russia,
which have travelled some 1000 miles to
reach this Exhibition, and we can show
you apples of limited amount, but of in
wiling appearance, grown on the table
land OF Mexico, 5000 feet above the sea,
possibly from the old gardens of the Az
tee Kings.
You will be able in this exhibition to
study certain interesting problems in po-
mology under more favoring circum-
stances than have heretofore been offer
ed for such study. You can compare the
same varieties Of apples as grown in the
humid northern climate of Old England
and in the dry valleys of extreme South
ern California as grown in the contrast
ing climates of Wisconsin and Arkansas; ;
or those grown on the lean hillsides Of
Vermont or Maine with the products of
fertile Kansas and Nebraska--not long
since known to our geographers as the