WINTER MEETING. 129 



he certainly cannot do it with these everlasting changes that have 

 been going on in the Horticultural department. 



How shall we begin, then, to remedy these evils that have de- 

 stroyed or entirely nullifed everything that has been done at the Ex- 

 periment station? First, by selecting a good man ; second, by giving 

 him money to work with ; and, third, by keeping him. 



While the State Society was never invited to give its advice in the 

 selection of any man who has occupied the position of horticulturist 

 at the Experiment station, yet it has stood nobly by every man that has 

 been sent to Columbia, and has striven to work with him in unison in 

 all things. This every one of them will admit, and every member of 

 this Society will corroborate. It has only had the best interests of the 

 fruit-grower in mind, and was ever ready to work with any one whom 

 the Curators should select. 



Let us take up, then, the points mentioned in their order and dis- 

 cuss them fully and fairly. It is understood that in the discussion of 

 these points we shall say nothing that shall be a reflection upon any of 

 the professors who have held these positions, but only to throw the 

 responsibility of this whole matter where it belongs — upon the Board 

 of Curators. In criticising their work and their lack of results, we 

 criticise those who made it impossible for the professors to do other 

 than what they did. 



First, then, no plan for work for any series of years or any defi- 

 nite time. Who is responsible for this if not the Board of Curators 

 and the Director of the Station? Each professor, as he came to his 

 position, finding no plan laid out for him, must necessarily formulate 

 something for himself, and of course his thought must be to take up 

 such work as would bring results the most quickly. While this should 

 be done, the other should not have been left undone. 



Those experiments should be undertaken from which results can 

 be obtained as quickly as possible, so that they may be used at once ; 

 but a series of experiments should have been started that it may take 

 10, 20 or 40 years to complete the experiments and deduce results. 



Well, what are some of the most important and most weighty mat- 

 ters for us to take up, or that we would like to have solved ? I un- 

 hesitatingly answer that without question. The propagation of a hardy 

 race of fruits, the knowing how to breed our fruits as we breed our 

 horses, the fact of knowing how to feed them as we feed our hogs, 

 and the care and attention that we should give them as we care for 

 our children, are to my mind the great questions to be solved by the 

 fruit-grower or the Experiment station — for the fruit-grower above all 



H-9 



