Letters Received from Absent Friends. 31 



olive-oil making, and can not be absent from home. I fear, also, that the heavy 

 rains will prevent my attendance at Riverside. I am very truly, 



Ellwood Cooper. 



One of America's noblemen is Prof. Wm. Saunders, of Ontario. 

 These good men are busy men, hence we can not always have them 

 with us. Here is a letter from one of our busy men : 



Ottawa, Ont., January 14, 1888. 

 My Dear Mr. Ragan : A protracted absence from home has prevented me 

 from replying earlier to your kind invitation to attend your coming meeting in 

 California. I regret that my duties at present, in connection with the work I have 

 in hand, are so heavy that I shall not be able to leave home so soon again; and 

 my time is so fully occupied that I have not just now a spare hour which I could 

 give to the preparation of a paper for you. I sincerely hope that you will have a 

 most successful and profitable gathering. I am truly sorry that I can not be with 

 you. Yours, very sincerely, Wm. Saunders, Director Exp. Fanns. 



Of all the absentees, none are more deeply regretted than Prof. 

 E. W. Hilgard, of the University of California. We had all hoped 

 in coming to California to meet this most highly esteemed citizen. 

 His absence is all the more a source of regret as it is due to sick- 

 ness. 



University of California, College of Agriculture, "» 



Berkeley, January 24, 1888. J 

 Parker Earle, Esq., San Jose : 



My Dear Sir — I had hoped that the attack of catarrhal fever that overtook 

 me on Monday last would yield sufficiently to energetic treatment to enable me to 

 be with you on Thursday at least, but although the worst is over, my doctor will 

 not allow me to undertake any outside expedition or mental excitement, and so I 

 must reluctantly relinquish the opportunity, which may not recur for many years, 

 of seeing the Society at one of its meetings. I trust, however, that I may still 

 have the opportunity of meeting a number of its members individually during 

 their stay on the coast, and I would here repeat, most cordially, the invitation I 

 gave to the members assembled at the rooms of the Board of Trade at San Fran- 

 cisco, on Sunday last, that they visit, severally or jointly, this university, and 

 more especially the College of Agriculture, the usefulness of which has, unlike 

 that of most others in the United States, been built up primarily on the experi- 

 ment station work, among the subjects of which viticultural work is prominent ; 

 it being, in fact, the only viticultural experiment station in the United States, so 

 far as I am aware. Communication from the city to Berkeley is half hourly — full 

 hours and half hours — except during the middle of the day. It takes about an 

 hour to get from the Palace Hotel to the university buildings. It will give me 

 and my colleagues great pleasure to see the members of the Society, severally or 

 jointly, at such times as may be convenient to them— only I suggest that Saturday 



