206 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EESPONSE, BY. HON. C. J. MONROE OF SOUTH HAVEN. 



I am reminded by the eloquent words of the gentleman who has just 

 addressed you, that last Thursday was Thanksgiving, a day leading 

 all others in reunion of families and friends. It is the special day that 

 the children return to the home of their birth, recalling the past with 

 its pleasures and disappointments, its hopes and despondencies, its suc- 

 cesses and failures. It is specially a day of feasting and of goodwill, 

 of good-fellowship and of good-cheer. While this is not Thanksgiving, 

 it is a time for thankfulness, for the renewing of old acquaintanceships 

 and friendships, and for the extending of good wishes. 



The cordial and hearty welcome given the society on its return to 

 the city of its birth has given us a wondrous home feeling. The retro- 

 spection of the last twenty-five years has been so vividly pictured that 

 a flood of recollections has been awakened, and memory brings back the 

 men and women who have been most active in its upbuilding. We recall 

 the many jjlaces in different parts of the state where its meetings have 

 been held, with the pleasant greetings, the varied exercises, the music 

 and song, essays, speeches and discussions, all intended for entertain- 

 ment and instruction. These gatherings have stimulated thought and a 

 desire for knowledge, have scattered valuable and helpful information 

 to those interested in horticultural pursuits; they have increased the 

 planting of trees and vines and flowers, of small fruits and vegetables. 

 More thought has been given to the selection of varieties, their quality 

 and attractiveness; greater care in choice and preparation of the ground, 

 the after-cultivation, trimming, and thinning, the watchfulness of dis- 

 eases and insect enemies of tree and fruit, the picking and packing and 

 marketing — all more intelligently and thoroughly performed. 



Grand Rapids' representative host, in his address of welcome and 

 retrospection, has given us such a large photograph, crowded with so 

 many persons and events, that I can only respond to a few of them. 

 At the front, standing out most prominently in age, service, and the love 

 we bear. him, is Ex-President Lyon, who has received such an eloquent 

 and just tribute here tonight — the placing of him at the head in the 

 building up of the horticultural interests of Michigan is suggested and 

 sustained by his voluminous writings and speeches, his services in local, 

 state, and national societies and expositions, his work at the sub- 

 experiment station, his painstaking labor in the revision of the nomen- 

 clature of American fruits, his persistent efforts for correct and simple 

 names, and for a high standard of equality. The esteem and confi'i'^nce 

 with which he is frequently mentioned by eminent pomologists in tlip 

 United States and Canada, give him more than a national standing and 

 reputation. It is generally recognized that honesty is the best policy in 

 any business or profession. If there are any degrees, we should have 

 the highest t^'pe in the propagation of fruits, especiall}^ trees, which 

 require years before coming into bearing, and so needing a long time to 

 demonstrate the correctness of their names or quality. Those who know 

 Ex-President Lyon appreciate that there is not money enough in Michi- 

 gan to obtain his signature to the recommendation of a tree, fruit, or 



