Winter Meeting. 315 



ness. We earnestly hope that the Society may continue to be 

 dominated and guided by his skilled hand. 



We comfort ourselves that we are not saying good-bye to Mr. 

 Goodman — only relieving him of the trying and burdensome duties 

 from which he has earned relief by faithful service. To few men 

 is it given to hold such a position for a quarter of a century — such 

 tenure of office is possible only to a man of sterling character and 

 magnetic power. Mr. Goodman has not alone fulfilled these con- 

 ditions of leadership, but he has also won our love, and this record 

 is a meagre expression of our affectionate regard and unbounded 

 admiration for Mr. Goodman. 



Mr. Goodman replied in a short speech, thanking the Society 

 for this expression of good will. He said if he thought he had not 

 the good will of this Society and the majority of the members over 

 the State, would think his work had been a failure. Would give 

 more for the good will and friendship of the horticulturists all over 

 the State than anything else w^hich this work had brought to him. 



H. W. Collingswood gave a most interesting lecture on the 

 "Home Side of Fruit Growing," illustrated. The best crop ever 

 raised was the crop of boys and girls. Fungus may wipe out the 

 crop of fruit, blight kill the trees, disease sweep the cattle from 

 the State and we could still manage to get along, but let a moral 

 blight fall on the child crop and God help the State and country. 



The lecture and illustrations showed the methods of work and 

 the experiments tried on "Hope Farm," the home of the speaker, 

 and closed with an original poem, composed by the speaker. 



HOW TO INTEREST BOYS IN THE FARM. 



(By Miss Alice Kinney, New Franklin, Mo.) 



Mr. President and Members of the Convention : 



I must preface my remarks by confessing that my own family 

 are very curious to know where I have gained my information as 

 to the best ways of interesting boys in the farm, when I have 

 neither kith nor kin of a boy upon whom to experiment; but, being 

 a proverbial "Old Maid," with all the claims. of a broader and 

 clearer insight into such things, than one whose entire vision of life 

 is narrowed down to, perhaps, one small boy. 



For some years I have watched, with the deepest regret, our 

 neighborhood boys forsake the freedom of a country life and seek 



