PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 205 



of liis great ability and continuously active interest in the development 

 of Michigan horticulture for more than sixty years, and his intimate 

 relationship with the movements of the State Horticultural society from 

 the second year of its organization until now, commands our admiring 

 appreciation. To him more than any other one we owe our national 

 reputation and standing as an organization among others of its kind. 

 His name will be perpetuated in the orchards and gardens of the state, 

 and be handed down to those who carry on the work of the society as a 

 synonym for devotion to the best in rural life. 



We have been looking with the transit turned toward our beginning. 

 I would for a moment revolve it and let us look into the future of this 

 society. We all have our aims in life, and T feel that this society 

 ought to have a generous and virtuous aim in its future. I feel that we 

 ought not to belittle ourselves by tying ourselves down to any narrow- 

 ness. Remember that we are not working for an eternal life that is 

 beyond us; we are working for the eternal life that is here and now, 

 and we are a part of it. I have no sympathies whatever with the people 

 who decry the things in this world and are looking for something that 

 is good beyond, to the exclusion of the beautiful things that God gives 

 us here (Applause). It seems to me that it is the mission of this 

 society to call the attention of the people of this state to the wondrously 

 beautiful things that God has given us through the development of 

 our work and the helpfulness of the things that we have about us to 

 lift our whole population to a higher plane of action with horticulture as 

 its leading spirit. It seems to me, ladies and gentlemen of the society, 

 that we have a mission to perform here that no other organization can 

 perform; and now that you have come back to the scenes of your boy- 

 hood, come back to the place of your birth, some of you tired and 

 anxious because you have not accomplished all that you had in your 

 ideal, I hope that the welcome which we shall give you will be that 

 which you feel when you get home, after a tired day's work, to your 

 family circle. I trust that through the inspiriting things you will get 

 in this meeting you will go out with a more earnest feeling for the 

 work you have to do, with a spirit to be helpful all along the line and 

 to never give up the work you have undertaken. 



We who live here, who have faith in yau and had the faith to start 

 you out in your career, will follow you in your work, and we expect to see 

 a rich fruitage. So I say, for the people of Grand Rapids, and I wish 

 I could be more eloquent in it, God speed in your work. We shall 

 follow you and we expect great things of you. In remembrance of the 

 noble men who have molded the efforts of our society in the past, in 

 recognition of the spirits who are now carrying on the good work, and 

 in behalf of the citizens of Grand Rapids, who are proud of the distinc- 

 tion of having given birth to your organization more than a quarter of a 

 century ago, I bid you welcome to the scenes of your childhood. We 

 rejoice in your success, we congratulate you upon your growth and 

 influence, and beg to be counted in every loyal sense as fellows of the 

 societv, while we acknowlcnlge ourselves its beneficiaries. (Applause.) 



