172 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



year new-comers into our State, and others, who join the ranks of horticulture, 

 desire to complete sets of our volumes as far as possible, and these are the 

 very ones that most need the assistance which is rendered by the volumes. 



FRUIT CATALOGUE. 



Our fruit catalogue is praised everywhere, and applications for the annual 

 report, on account of this portion of it, come from all parts of the Union. 

 It is peculiarly serviceable to new-comers who contemplate setting orchards, 

 and has a value scarcely to be estimated, when used by men that desire to 

 plant extensively without having special knowledge of varieties as adapted to 

 the vicinity in which they are to plant. Five hundred copies of the catalogue 

 were issued, separate from the annual volume of transactions, and furnished 

 at fifteen cents each to simply cover the cost of publication and mailing. 

 These are not all yet used, but will probably be called for before the next 

 issue. The work of compiling this catalogue and amending it from year to 

 year is no small one, and thus far it has been accomplished almost entirely by 

 President Lyon. It is a work worthy of the man, and as a legacy to the 

 fruit-growers of Michigan cannot well be over-estimated. 



OUR LIBRARY. 



I wish to say but a word in connection with our library. We now have a 

 safe place to put it and are receiving donations. Our only means as yet for 

 increasing it is through exchanges and donations. We desire to gather a care- 

 fully selected list of books and publications that can be used for reference by 

 any member of the society who may desire to thoroughly investigate any matter 

 connected with horticulture. I can see illustrated in a small way in my own 

 experience the benefits that may be conferred by such an aggregation of books. 

 Although I have but few, still they are in constant use by those who are not 

 so fortunate as I in possessing them. The enterprise of securing a large cen- 

 tral library, under the care of our society, it seems to me, is one worthy of our 

 careful attention. 



Our present librarian, who began his labors last March, has put our little 

 nucleus of a library in the best of shape, and his system of records is a most 

 complete one. His report which follows this will thoroughly explain the con- 

 dition of our library affairs. 



THE QUARTERLY MEETINGS. 



The quarterly meetings have been well attended, and admirably managed by 

 the local committees in charge during the year 1880. The February meeting 

 at Hillsdale was very largely attended from the immediate vicinity and from 

 abroad. The arrangements for entertainment were different from any in our 

 previous experience. The Hillsdale county agricultural society provided for 

 all delegates at the hotels, and the accommodations for the sessions of the 

 society were admirable. One feature of this meeting met with universal favor: 

 The giving up of one evening to short addresses and social intercourse, inter- 

 spersed with delightful vocal and instrumental music. There was some objec- 

 tion raised to this plan before its consummation, on the ground that it was a 

 waste of time that should be given up to the discussion of horticultural ques- 

 tions. But all were pleased with the result of the evening's entertainment, 

 and adverse criticism was hushed in the general good feeling engendered by 

 the pleasant exercises. 



The June meeting at Battle Creek was not so largely attended, but for so 



