TWENTY FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING. 83 



the oldest in the state and one of the most intelligent and enterprising. 

 I think its material prosperity has not been so great as in former times, 

 liut you know we are not enjoying very good times anywhere at present; 

 bjt we all sincerely hope that, when things change, Adrian will get a 

 full measure of the benefits of it. 



We have known of Adrian in our horticultural circles, more particu- 

 larly, because it has been the seat of one of the oldest horticultural 

 societies in the state. I know of no other organization so old, nor one so 

 constant in its meetings. In season and out of season, you seem to have 

 met and Icept up interest. You have had many brave souls, some here 

 still and some gone to a better abode; and year after year we have read 

 the proceedings of this association. They have gathered a library, have 

 met monthly, and as the years come and go and the seasons change, they 

 discuss and inform one another concerning their proceedings. That it 

 has been of great benefit, goes without saying. 



The mayor spoke of examples of endeavor in the line of improvement of 

 things horticultural. Now, that goes on to a very much greater extent, 

 perhaps, than Adrian people wiio are not within horticultural circles are 

 aware. There are members of this society who have done much toward 

 it. Our worthy president has produced, solely by his knowledge of 

 science and intuition of the ways of Nature, the very best muskmelon 

 over grown on earth. Mr. Tracy, one of our members, is constantly 

 engaged in the elaboration of new vegetables and flowers, and conduct- 

 ing experiments along that line, for the great seed house with which he is 

 connected, and he has himself produced or introduced a considerable 

 number of vegetables and flowers. In your own city is Mr. E. D. Smith; 

 perhaps you do not appreciate him ; sometimes a prophet has more honor 

 outside his own immediate localitv, but vour Mr. Smith is one of the 

 most eminent chrvsanthemum-growers in the world. He is secretarv of 

 the Chrysanthemum Society of America. You are not perhaps aware of 

 the large number of improved varieties he has originated. He showed me 

 tonight, with a keen pleasure which no one but a lover of flowers can feel, 

 some returns he has received from his exhibit in Boston. If you go up to 

 his greenhouse, I am sure he will show you the inside process of the cross- 

 ing and recrossing of flowers until a new one is given birth, receives a 

 name, and goes forth to give pleasure to those who behold it. He has 

 exhibited at five of the principal flower shows this fall, and his exhibits 

 have been of such high character that he has been given diplomas for the 

 standard quality of these flowers, and they have passed in all of the ex- 

 positions. They make a scale of points of merit in each flower, and require 

 eighty-five points for admission as a recognized variety. His exhibits 

 have all passed, and most have stood 100. It is a grand work, and. while 

 ?,rr. Morrill did not lose anything on his melon, much work is going on 

 that is not recompensed. Of all men we place first our most esteemed 

 and honored ex-president, Mr. Lyon, who has devoted a whole lifetime to 

 precisely this class of work, and he lias not done it for the sake of money. 

 If he had, and had directed himself wisely within certain channels, he 

 might have enriched bimself; but he has devoted his whole life to the 

 good of the people of the state of Michigan. That life is coming to a 

 close; we must some day lose him, and it will call tears to many an 

 eye. A more unselfish life was never spent, and only those in touch with 



