THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF 

 MICHIGAN POMOLOGY. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF GEORGE PAR^VIELEE. PRESIDENT OF THE 

 MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Ge^sTLEMEx: — There are hitlden springs impelling the action of societies as 

 well as of individuals. 



The inspiration which dictated to the lamented A. J. Downing the first lines 

 of his preface to "Fruits and Fruit Trees of America," is one of the elements 

 which sustains the life of this Pomological Society. He thought he could "bo 

 pardoned for talking about fruit trees," because his hours spent in orchards 

 and gardens took an additional charm from the presence of the noble Hudson, 

 though it is begirt with barren mountains, giving to the voyager upon it the 

 impression of "patches" to the little tillable spots which are the sites of its 

 beautiful towns and scattering farms. 



Here and there a little fruit amid barren mountain wastes had its eflect upon 

 him. The love of it, more than a money consideration, led him to initiate the 

 great work which his brother has so well completed. 



Is it strange, then, that Michigan, with near or quite a thousand miles of 

 water front on its lower penirsula, with nearly continuous arable lands, form- 

 ing almost a continent suitable for fruit production, — is it strange, I say, that 

 this great State should contain a body of men who will undertake the work 

 this Society is doing without a money compensation, — for the love of it ? 



All great unpaid labors have tlieir compensation. Ours is in the practical 

 knowledge which we borrow from each other, and the satisfaction of seeing 

 the interests of Pomology advance as do all the great industries of the day. 



I propose now to hold a check on the natural tendencies of the occasion to 

 talk of the beautiful and the lovely in our theme, and to confine myself to the 

 business side of the subject. 



It is well to look over the Held and see where our work lies : to see the 

 needs of the present, and to appreciate our difficulties and our helps. 



If nearly every acre of this great peninsula is suited to the production of 

 some one or more of the valuable fruits of the temperate zone, we have a grand 

 field to contemplate in taking our survey. 



We cannot take time to particularize in the consideration of our long list of 

 Michigan fruits and our thousand townships in which the business we try to 



