REPORTS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES. 109 



I. E. Ilgenfritz, arc shown to be nearly 100 years old, and show but little signs 

 of decay. Is it not possible, if we plant with a view to our work of this day's 

 lasting to another centennial, that selections might safely be made from these 

 fruit trees? And you, my dear sir (Lyon), and my friend Bidwell could not 

 have failed to notice in the collection of pears exhibited by President Wilder at 

 the meeting of the American Pomological Society in Chicago, last September, 

 — orange pears, — from a tree 235 years old, now owned by Capt. Allen, of 

 Salem, Massachusetts; and another plate of pears from a tree planted by 

 Anthony Thatcher, in 1G40 ; and still another, fruit from the celebrated War- 

 den pear tree, which was grafted April 19th, 1715. I remember a row of cherry 

 trees, of some dozen or more, near the city of Rochester, which I am informed 

 by a friend, who saw them recently, are still standing vigorous and healthy, 

 the date of whose setting reaches back nearly seventy years. Surely here are 

 instances enough to tempt us in the direction of our fruit trees for centennial 

 planting. 



Mr. President, it may seem out of place and possibly ludicrous in me to 

 venture upon any suggestion as to the proper manner and care necessary to 

 success in your work of Saturday next, and especially so when I reflect that I 

 am addressing a South Haven audience, a people noted throughout our State 

 for their perfection in this regard. I will only remark in a general way that 

 none of you, not even the most expert and pains-taking, can exercise too much 

 care in the work of preparing the soil, and in digging and planting the tree, and its 

 after management. Remember they who are the most particular and exercise the 

 greatest care throughout, all other things being equal, will surely attain the 

 greatest measure of success. And now that we are to engage wholly in this 

 work on the day appointed (I take it for granted that there is no one here who 

 will be found guilty of neglecting this duty), let us give, if possible, the entire 

 day to the work, let it engage the attention of the entire family from old to 

 young, let the enthusiasm be manifest in every household, and if your own 

 allotment is finished ere the day closes, turn to the assistance of your neighbor. 

 Yea, let every individual member who has sufficient age and strength plant 

 their own tree, that they may look upon it through all the vicissitudes of life 

 and call it theirs. I well remember of planting an elm sapling in my boyhood 

 days in an eastern town and calling it my tree. I never visit that locality with- 

 out going to the spot and paying it my respects. I call it my tree still, although 

 I have no fee simple to the soil on which it stands. The last time I saw it is 

 some eight years since, a friend drove out with me from the city of Rochester, 

 some six miles, on purpose to note its growth. It was a fine tree with a trunk 

 the size of my body, and its long, pendant, and sweeping branches covered an 

 area of thirty feet in diameter. On meeting the then proprietor (who by the 

 way was a stranger), I rather abruptly informed him that tree was mine. "That 

 may be, sir, but it will cost you a goodly sum to get possession of it." He 

 seemed somewhat offended at what appeared an unwarranted claim, but a little 

 explanation and we joined hand and were friends at once. We enjoyed the 

 hospitalities of his house and parted amid earnest solicitations to come again. 

 Who says that is not my tree? 



In conclusion let me say, that while Pomology will undoubtedly occupy the 

 attention of your people for the time to come, or at least so long as climatic 

 and other influences continue in your favor, let this departure, — this day's 

 beginning in the field of Arboriculture, — be the entering wedge to open up your 

 hearts in sympathy toward us and others located in other parts of the State not 



