270 • State Horticultural Society, 



tive Committee, the same as is dene by State Boards of Agriculture. 



Other states allow no one to vote for the officers that take part 

 in the management of the affairs, until they have been members 

 at least one year, while still others demand membership for two 

 or three years. 



Some states go so far as to make every man and woman in 

 the State who sends in his or her name a member of the Society. 

 This is one extreme, and not the correct one. Some states give 

 magazines or horticultural papers to the full value of member- 

 ship for any new member or renewal. Some states give nursery 

 stock to double the cost of membership to all who pay or renew 

 membership. Some states make all members of all local societies 

 members of the state society. 



But I believe our plan is the best one, to have all who are 

 interested enough in our work to pay their membership fee made 

 members, and all the local societies or others who answer our let- 

 ters, made correspondents, with all the privileges and advantages 

 of members, except voting. Should we adopt the plan of some 

 other state societies, we should have 3,000 members on our list, 

 a greater number than any other state society known. As it is, 

 we can safely say we have the largest number of enthusiastic, 

 interested fruit growers of any state in the Union, save, perhaps, 

 California. 



The committee appointed by our President to suggest a basis 

 of settlement for our orchard trees, when burned by the railroads, 

 is a step in a practical way for adjusting many of our troubles 

 of that kind. There has always been a great difference between 

 the railroads and the orchardist, which difference should be ad- 

 justed in a friendly way. I suppose I have had to settle more fire 

 losses in my own orchards than any other man in the State, and 

 I have never found it necessary to go to law about it. Not that 

 I have received all I thought the orchards justly worth, oftentimes 

 less than one-half, but that it was much better to settle in a friendly 

 way all such difficulties, if possible to do so. 



Some fakes and impositions — Some seedless apples are now 

 being sold over the land for $2.00 each, and every sort of sales- 

 man is being used. We should take the same position in regard 

 to this imposition that we do in others, and condemn this work 

 in our horticultural field. This apple is no value, only as a curios- 

 ity, and we should warn our people against these salesmen. Other 

 impositions are made where some nurserymen sell old fruits under 

 new names at exorbitant prices. Either one is a deceit and a snare, 



