Winter Meeting. 153 



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WINTER MEETING. 



FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL SESSION, 

 St. JosepJi, Decembers, 4, 5, 1902. 



Tuesday, December 3. 1901, 8 p. m. 



Call to order by President Alurra}-. 

 Invocation — Rev. A. D. Reiter. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOAIE. 

 (By Major John Combs.) 



Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the ^Missouri Horticultural 

 Society : It is a pleasant privilege for me to extend a welcome to 

 you. This meeting will be a help to us and to all the State. Missouri 

 is second only to Califorinia and this northwestern part is worth}'- of 

 a meeting for it is the natural home of fruit. In the '6o's there were 

 few orchards here. My father was a farmer and depended for his 

 supply on wild fruits ; for this part was well favored in them. We 

 could gather plums, grapes, strawberries and others as plentifully as in 

 the present orchards. 



This organization ought to receive more liberal help from the 

 State to spend in distributing information. Through the Secretar}^ and 

 papers we can make the the industry larger. 



I bid you a hearty welcome to the city and if from what you 

 learn you think this part worth}^ ; come to live here and plant 3'our 

 fruits. 



RESPONSE. 



President Murray responded and after thanking ]\Iayor Combe 

 and the people of St. Joseph for the hearty welcome extended, told of 

 some of the possibilities of fruit growing in ^^lissouri. Referring in a 



