Secretary's Report. 91 



Our present membership is composed almost exclusively 

 of practical gardeners and fruit growers. They have been 

 intelligent, earnest and active in advancing the horticultural 

 interests of this state, still they include only a small portion 

 of the men and women who should assist in this work. 

 We have now more members than ever before, but we have 

 only one where we should have ten. We weed the stimulus 

 of numbers to give breadth, life and fire to our meetings. 

 We want more pickets on the skirmish line of observation. 

 The work of the society is useful in the collection of facts 

 rather than in the propagation of theories. With a larger 

 membership we can obtain more complete data upon which 

 to formulate cur judgment. One tendency of the present 

 system of distributing our reports is to limit our member- 

 ship because we do not confine the distribution to members 

 but make it general. No person will now pay the member- 

 ship fee of one dollar for the purpose of obtaining a report 

 as it can be had for nothing. There is no remedy for this. 

 The society owes it to the state which generously sustains 

 it with financial aid that its reports should be freely dis- 

 tributed. 



The work of extending our membership, which I regard 

 as most important must be carried on mainly in the line of 

 individual effort. Persuasive circulars sent by the officers 

 of the society, and even general society work of clearly de- 

 fined usefulness have little effect as compared with persis- 

 tent, energetic effort upon the part of our members to induce 

 others to join in our work. 



MEETINGS. 



It has been the policy of the society for several years to 

 hold two formal meetings each year — the winter meetings 

 at Madison, for election of officers and transaction of busi- 

 ness, and a summer meeting and fruit exhibition, at such a 

 place as might be determined by the society or its executive 

 board. The summer meetings held at different points have 

 greatly extended the influence of the society, awakened a 

 new interest in horticultural matters, and given us many 

 new and valuable members. The winter meetings at Mad- 



