THE ANNUAL MEETING. 213 



Legislators who make our laws, and justices and judges who execute them, 

 snay be slow to come to this conclusion, and doubtless will be, if they have no 

 peach trees to convince them of the truth, but most of those who felt the 

 bligliting hand of the destroyer last year have come to tliis decision and this 

 year cut down their affected trees without the aid of a commissioner. Two 

 years' experience and a view of the St. Joe country has taught our people that 

 ^^an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." Nearly every 

 one who was reluctant to cut down the first trees which showed signs of the 

 disease, thinking tliat time and trimming would affect a cure, has now become 

 more than willing to ''lay the ax at the root of the tree." Our great danger 

 does not come from those who are actively and earnestly engaged in fruit- 

 raising. These Jiien are vigilant to resist the enemy ; but those who look upon 

 fruit as of secondary importance do not lose much if the disease prevails, and 

 do not gain much if it is eradicated — these are the men who are slow to act and 

 indifferent to success. When every man who wishes to grow a peach tree 

 fully comprehends the fact that to retain a tree infected with the 3'ellows 

 means a rapid decrease in both quantity and quality of fruit, until nothing is 

 left, he will not be slow to advocate the enactment of a law that w^ill reach out 

 ii strong arm to lay hold on the luke-warm and the careless, knowing this, 

 that "the law is not made for a risfhteous man but for the disobedient." 

 Facts often speak louder than words. Let them testify to the disobedient and 

 unbelieving. About the year 1873, Messrs. A. and B. of our town had each a 

 peach orchard. These were at that time bearing fruit. Mr. A.'s orchard con- 

 tained about 4^000 trees, Mr. B.'s about 200. Each man had a tree whose 

 fruit was beautiful to behold and not unpleasant to the taste. AV^ith various 

 reflections each man waited a year for further developments. These came 

 with the next summer. Mr. A. heard of the yellows and his tree was identified 

 as a victim. He looked up and saw the dry bones of St. Joe peach orchards in 

 the ofiing. He was not slow to comprehend what might be the progress of the 

 fell destroyer. He removed his tree with great dispatch, as he would a viper 

 from the bosom of his family. Mr. B. also heard of the yellows, but to him it 

 was like the sound of distant thunder which seldom portends more than a 

 shower that will soon pass over and leave a brighter sunshine. Mr. B.'s tree 

 sickened and died, but not until its virus had been well disseminated and 

 absorbed into the circulation of surrounding trees. Mr. A. followed the 

 digging-out process. Mr. B. followed the trimming process to arrest the dis- 

 ease ; and now, after a lapse of six years, the former has removed less than 

 twenty of his 4,000 trees, while the latter has cut down more than fifty.-of his 

 200, and not a few of those which remain are ready to die. Such facts are 

 more potent than law, and constitute the bone and muscle of the statute under 

 which we are now working. Very many of our citizens have not, until 

 recently, been well informed in regard to the symptoms and indications of the 

 disease. Since these have been learned, most of them are not slow to act for 

 their best interests. No one in our town has refused to cut down diseased 

 trees, but some are slow to act and need a sharp law to help them. 



EEPORT OF D. 13. AVILLIAMS. 



Mr. D. B. Williams, a yellows commissioner of South Haven, continued the 

 discussion by giving his annual report as follows : 



I commenced the examination of orchards about the middle of June', and 

 continued until about the 18th of October, during which time not a week has 



