420 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



It is well for him to gain the rudiments from books, and to carry out the 

 ideas thus gained in a practical way; but after all, the information thus gained 

 cannot prove so satisfactory, nor can it be so indelibly impressed upon his 

 mind, as by actual contact with the authors themselves, when giving their 

 respective experiences upon the same subject. And more than this, the exhi- 

 bitions of plants and fruits will attract the attention and enforce suggestions 

 upon the minds of very many people who do not read the works on horticulture 

 at all. — N. Y. Tribune. 



POMOLOGY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



Fruit is nature's confectionery — not satiating and debilitating, concocted from 

 indigestible compounds that fret the soul, but appetizing, cleansing and rejuven- 

 ating — an artistic blending of the rarest colors, the most delicious flavors and deli- 

 cate perfumes. In these choice viauds nature compensates for the retirement of 

 life, yet how few of all our fruit-loving race, living in a country especially 

 adapted to fruit culture, enjoy to the full this great boon. But when one man 

 has learned how lavishly the earth yields these favors, and is appreciative, he 

 influences his neighbors like yeast in the dough — he unwittingly becomes a 

 missionary. Therefore let us rear a monument for the man who shall provide 

 for instruction in pomology at our public schools. "What! shall we have a 

 fruit garden attached to the school-house, where the seductive strawberry shall 

 sport, and the peach and pear gratify, hungry, ungracious urchins?" I hear 

 asked. Well, projects more unwise have been successfully launched. 



But no one could object to at least a plain, homely lecture on the subject be- 

 fore the school occasionally ; and it could not be other than helpful. The 

 effects of sunshine, winds and droughts; of heat and frosts; the form that 

 fertilizers must assume before becoming available as plant food ; the small pro- 

 portion of branch and fruit that comes from the soil ; how the roots extend 

 and gather nourishment ; how plants grow, and how the sap circulates ; the 

 effects of hybridization on the plant, the fruit and the seed ; how to originate new 

 varieties, and the methods of budding and grafting, are among the subjects 

 which could be discussed with interest and profit. If nothing more was taught 

 than how to graft — which could be done in a short time to a large number — 

 great results would be attained. This is a country in which literature and the 

 fine arts receive fostering care ; railroads and steamship lines are subsidized ; 

 manufactures and commerce are nursed; but the great interests of agriculture, 

 horticulture and pomology are, in a measure, ignored. — Charles A. Green, 

 Monroe Co., N. Y. 



DISTRIBUTION OF REPORTS. 



Pres. T. T. Lyon, early in the year, contributed an article to the Michigan 

 Homestead from which Ave make the following extracts : 



The State Pomological Society has, for several years past, been without an 

 adequate membership. The work which has been done has been due to the 

 gratuitous labors of a very few persons. Gentlemen, not members, have been 



