REPORTS OF DISTRICT AND LOCAL SOCIETIES. 517 



President — Joseph Lannin of South Haven. 



Vice-Presidents — F. J. Russell, of Hart, A. Hamilton of Ganges, G. H. LaFleur of 

 Allegan, A. C. Glidden of Paw Paw, W. A. Brown of Benton Harbor. 



Secretary — C. L. Whitney of Muskegon. 



Treasurer — W. A. Smith of Benton Harbor. 



Executive Committee— J . B. Houk of Ludington, A. Adams of Shelby, Walter Phil- 

 lips of Grand Haven, D. W. Wiley of Douglas, and J. A. Pearce of Grand Rapids. 



GRAND RIVER VALLEY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



secretary's annual report. 



Seventeen years ago, a few men prominent in horticulture met in Fuller's 

 bank for the purpose of organizing a horticultural society. It was decided 

 to organize under the above name, and it was declared by those present to 

 be a necessity. Like all good things its progress was at first slow, but, as 

 all things seem to be rapidly marching to a higher grade, this society nat- 

 urally fell into line, and today it has become of importance, not only to its 

 immediate county, but to the whole country. Its now honored president 

 was just coming into notice as a college graduate of considerable promi- 

 nence, and the present secretary, just arrived from Britain's shores, 17 

 years old, much preferred a ramble in the woods of a new land or a rough- 

 and-tumble with his "Yankee" cousins than to continue in the school 

 studies begun in England. 



The present year, shows a gain of thirty per cent, in actual working 

 members, over any previous year, and as there is some hope that Grand 

 Rapids will have a chrysanthemum show next November, it is thought 

 that more of the florists will feel it their duty to join. Market gardeners 

 should also take hold of this society, and they would -find the fruit men not 

 only willing to listen to the progress made in this branch of horticulture, 

 but to adopt a more general system of cropping. 



The society this year has no debt to pay, but has a balance of $56.40 in 

 the treasury, not much to be sure, but it is better than being in arrears. 



In 1888 the ladies were admitted and picnic meetings adopted, and today 

 the charms of the ladies and their lunch baskets have much influence in 

 leading the men to long for the fourth Tuesday in the month. 



On the fourth Tuesday in January the executive committee of the soci- 

 ety met in the parlors of the Grand Rapids Savings bank and arranged 

 the following schedule of meetings and topics for the ensuing year: 



February Meeting — Paris Grange hall, topics: " Varieties of fruits and vegetables 

 to plant;" " School gardens." 



March— City hall: "Insects and insecticides;" "Fungi and fungicides." 



April — At the residence of Henry Smith: "Possibilities of horticulture under 

 glass;" " The children's garden." 



May — At Grandville: "How to manage a forty-acre farm and maintain from it a 

 prosperous family;" "Fun in farming." 



June — Herrington Grange hall: "Strawberries;" " Excessive praise of new varieties 

 of fruit." 



July — At the residence of Sluman L. Bailey, near Soldiers' Home: "Raspberries;" 

 " Rural taste and its cultivation." 



August — Lowell: "The ins and outs of peach-growing;" " Attractive highways and 

 how to secure them." 



