302 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Resolved, That we will remove our road fences and unite in enforcing laws 

 against stock running at large, and maintain our constitutional riglits to our 

 own land. 



August Meeting. 



Mr. Diimont called the meeting to order, and J. Tomliuson was elected sec- 

 retary pro tern. Keports of committees were omitted, the members not being 

 present. 



The Rev. John Sailor read a paper entitled '•' Horticultural societies as edu- 

 cators." 



Mr. Buck liked the sentiment of the paper. People could learn much by 

 reading. Fruit and crop reports are valuable. An instance was given of a 

 man who lost $800 by giving uo heed to them, while another made a large sum 

 by trusting to them. 



Mr. Sailor: The trouble is we do not read the papers that give the reports. 

 We do not always have the courage of our convictions. Every man should use 

 his own judgment. I would recommend the Eural New Yorker as very reliable. 



Mr. Peck: We must have experiences of our own. Books and papers do not 

 make up for personal experience. 



Mr. Buck: We do not always have confidence in books and papers, and 

 sometimes we have too much. Most of the papers have an ax to grind, but the 

 experiences of those who give them at these meetings are more reliable. 



Mr. Sailor : Our own experience costs oftentimes too much. 



An essay, " Home adornment: its influence upon the family," by Helen M. 

 Peck, was read by her father, Miss Peck not being present. This also is reserved 

 for future publication. The paper was well received, but was not discussed. 



A vote of thanks was tendered the Rev. Mr. Sailor for his excellent address. 



"Have we made any progress in new fruits?" a paper by Mr. LaFleur, was 

 uex^ presented. In a general way the speaker claimed that we had. All of the 

 fruits of the present day are far better than their originals years ago. This 

 progress has been made largely by cultivation, but also by nature's own pro- 

 cesses. Soil and climate are important factors in the development of fruit. 

 The paper was general in its tone, the speaker studiously avoiding mention of 

 particular instances wherein improvement could be shown. 



Mr. Rumery did not indorse all the paper by any means. As to peach trees, 

 forced cultivation has nearly ruined them. Peach trees used to live thirty to 

 forty years, while ten years is now about the life of the tree. 



Mr Buck objected to the paper in this : that when the speaker got Adam out 

 of the garden he did not get him back again ; but on the whole was well 

 pleased with the paper. He named several varieties in which great improve- 

 ments have been made. Mr. Buck finds great pleasure in cultivating new 

 fruits and has generally been well repaid for his efforts in that direction. 



Mr. Lay called for more particulars, the paper was too general. 



Mr. LaFleur — Sometimes what we write gets into the ])apers, and we do not 

 always hear the last of it. It is almost impossible to discriminate justly in 

 regard to rare I'ruits. How many of us have had our expectations realized in 

 trying new fruits? The peaches which are now doing us the most good are 

 raised in our own county. We deprecate efforts of eastern nurserymen in the 

 extraordinary attempts they are making to force their goods on the public, 

 and the extravagant praise of them in their advertisements. We claim that 

 we have several new varieties of peach which have originated in this country, 



