FORTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT. 165 



think we ought to all be glad that we live in this country of peace and 

 when we think of the carnage- the great war of Europe has brought, it 

 seems to me that the most fitting way of closing this meeting is to 

 rise and sing the first and last verses of 'America.' " 



SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



The annual business meeting of the Society was held at Kalamazoo, 

 Wednesday morning, December 2, 1914. The report of the Secretary 

 was read and approved. The report was as follows: The State Society 

 has held three meetings this year, the first was in Benton Harbor in 

 February and was a fine meetiug with a splendid attendance; there were 

 five sessions and they were all of interest. (The addresses given there, 

 are published in the beginning of this book.) 



The second — the midsummer meeting, was held in Oakland County 

 in conjunction with the Oakland County Horticultural Society, was one 

 of the most interesting and enjoyable summer meetings the Society has 

 ever held. The members of the State Society and the Local members 

 gathered at the home of Mr, R. J. Coryell, Secretary of the Oakland 

 County Society, on the morning of August 5th. The visitors were asked 

 to inspect the nurseries which were largely composed of trees and shrubs 

 for landscape gardening; his place showed the care and intelligence of a 

 man thoroughly posted in his work. Mr. Coryell does not go into the 

 fruit extensively, but there were some fine fruit trees on the farm in ex- 

 cellent condition demonstrating that good culture had been given them. 

 At noon Mr. and Mrs. Coryell served a very bountiful lunch to more than 

 100 people, after lunch the local Society provided autos and auto trucks 

 and took their guests to The Homestead of the Misses Sly, four miles 

 north of Birmingham. The visitors were shown the large orchards and 

 were delighted to find every thing so well kept ; the young orchards were 

 in splendid condition and the apple trees were all heavily loaded with 

 fruit; after a walk through the orchards the members gathered under 

 the shade of the beautiful trees surrounding the house and held an in- 

 formal meeting. President Munson called on difl'erent ones to tell of 

 the conditions of fruit in their locality. Pear blight seemed to be 

 causing a great deal of damage in all quarters of the State, and the 

 only treatment advised was cutting out the infected parts and disin- 

 fecting the cut, also prunning tools, with Corrosive Sublimate. At 5 

 o'clock the visitors were invited to be seated at five long tables that were 

 placed on the lawn; over 1G5 people enjoyed the bountiful hospitality of 

 the Misses Sly; after supper many of the visitors looked through the or- 

 chard of Mr. Case which was nearby. As night came on the local mem- 

 bers departed for home, each one taking one or two of the members as 

 their guests; every one was cared for and made most welcome and com- 

 fortable. 



The next morning at 9 o'clock the members again gathered at the 

 home of the Misses Sly and were driven to the beautiful estate of Mr. 

 G. G. Booth; he is reported to have spent a million dollars on the 



