80 State Horticuttiiral Society. 



what you learn here, or read in our many valuable horticultural 

 publications, and send in the results, told in your own way. "Orig- 

 inality," says a professor of English in Columbia University, "de- 

 pends far more upon treatment than upon subject matter." and 

 he further says "the greatest of authors have plundered their pre- 

 decessors without scruple and without blame." What is given to 

 the world belongs to the world. Reading it, studying it, experi- 

 menting upon it, making it your own, and telling it in your own 

 way, is far from slavish copying. 



The unanimity with which they respond is gratifying if not 

 remarkable. For instance, in our last three programs we had an 

 average of over 48 subjects provided for and an average of less 

 than five failures in the responses. A fine showing and gratifying 

 too, for in this way we collect most of the information we need to 

 answer the hundreds, almost thousands of questions as to location 

 of fruit land, soils and their adaptability to various kinds of fruits, 

 planting, cultivation, pruning, spraying, gathering, marketing, 

 cold storage, etc. Moreover, in this way we get the material for 

 our 4,000 annual reports and for our more than another 1,000 

 press reports. These go to all who are interested in fruit growing, 

 if they but let us know ; to all our life members, to all annual mem- 

 bers, irrespective of whether they have paid $1.00 or $2.00 or 

 whether they have paid every year or not. Thus you see our audi- 

 ence tonight is not confined to those present within these walls, but 

 takes in the thousands who read our articles and get our reports of 

 various kinds. Our audiences are always like those of the great 

 metropolitan papers — all who may read what we say, and of what 

 we do. 



This is as it should be. We furnish the material and do the 

 work; the State prints the reports and pays the postage. Thus 

 only can we reach all portions of the State once a year. We labor 

 for a good meeting each time, but it is much better to have a good 

 report and a poorly attended meeting, like the one in June, 1903, 

 the year of the great flood, than to have a poor report and a big 

 meeting. Our present program is like its predecessors — 49 subjects 

 provided for, and no excess of failures expected. 



But to one question not on the program, I wish to call your 

 attention: Do we not need some additional legislation for the 

 benefit of the fruit growing interests of the State? Other states 

 have far more and better than we have. Many of us fight orchard 

 pests continually, while others neglect their orchards till they be- 

 come breeding pens for every fungous pest and insect enemy found 



