THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 87 



for them to act. When a person has a tawny skin, a stinking breath, an 

 offensive perspiration, and fecal discharges which are Hke those of the cat 

 or a dog, or any other carnivorous animal, the person in that condition is 

 in a chronic state of auto-intoxication; and Bright's disease comes on after 

 a while, and liver disease, and other troubles that grow out of the poisoning 

 that is going on. 



We may do more to increase the longevity of the American race, to increase 

 vigor and endurance, by increasing the use of fruits, than in any other way. 



USE OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 



(j. H. HALE, SOUTH GLASTONBURY, CONN.) 



Mr. President, and Fellow Fruit Growers: After such an enjoyable time 

 last night, I feel as though I would like to unbutton a little at this time, 

 and might have done so earlier. 



I thought of one thing last night while enjoying that delightful banquet, 

 of some of our negroes down south that might interest you, in a way. The 

 darkies are always gambling in petty ways. They had worn out aboutevery 

 gambling game down there some' years ago, and finally one of them said one 

 day during the noon hour, "Let's each put a nickel in the pot, and name 

 what good eating is; and then we'll ask the boss to say who has laid out the 

 best program, and the fellow that has gets the money." So 75 or 100 of 

 them put in a nickel apiece, and asked the boss in to decide what was a good 

 square meal, what was the best bill of fare laid out. One named various 

 dishes, and another another, until it got to about the fifth or sixth fellow, 

 and he said, "Well, dah's 'possum, an' dah's sweet taters, an' dah's water- 

 melon — " About that time the other negroes, some of them, began to slide 

 up toward the pile and reach their hands out. "Hold on, niggah, what yo' 

 doing taking the money out?" "0 sho', but dat niggah has done named 

 all dah is." 



So I felt almost last night as though " dat niggah " Kellogg up there had 

 done named all there was. It was good eating, "shoo nuff, honey." 



But now to this question of commercial fertilizer. I know little or nothing 

 about it scientifically. I am not a chemist, and I ought not perhaps to 

 try to tell you anything about commercial fertilizer. All the knowledge 

 I have is that of a practical fruit grower. 



It happened to be my privilege in my early boyhood days to be at the first 

 public meeting of American farmers where the discussion relative to chemical 

 fertilizers' and of agricultural experiment stations took place. I was a boy 

 at the time. Old Prof. Stockridge — perhaps none of you here know anything 

 about the Stockridge plan of plant feeding; but Dr. Stockridge and a number 

 of others were talking and I as a boy got enthused with those ideas. Some 

 of them were founded on fact, and some were not. But it led me to believe, 

 in my earliest days, that plants were real animals to be fed with the foods 

 that would stimulate them to their most perfect bodily development and 

 most perfect fruitage. 



In Connecticut we had the first agricultural experiment station that was 

 started in the United States; and the first work of that department was 



