PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING 69 



thousinid (IoIImi's in a day, d('|)(*nclin<; cntiicl.v upon what you havo in your 

 licad when ycm bcj^in. All those (hings have been done in this state, and 

 the object of these meetings is, to show men the very best way, so far ds 

 is known. The members of the society have either the experience, or have 

 gathered the evidence and exi)erience of others in such sha])e that in the 

 annual volumes is iccordcd the year's exi)erience of the best and most 

 scientific people in the country. I think every fruitgrower should secure 

 the Reports as they come out, and listen to the topics as they are discussed; 

 secure the best periodicals, and studv them carefullv. 



SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT. 



The past year has been one of fair degree of prosperity to the society. 

 A year ago our annual meeting at Grand Rapids was an exceedingly large 

 one, a long one, and well filled from beginning to end. We would really 

 like to meet in some large place on every occasion, or in some of the fruit- 

 growing centers of the state; but the fact is that, as a state society, our 

 labors are expected to extend throughout this commonwealth, and to en- 

 courage fruitgrowing in every corner of it where a start may be made or 

 where we can make an opportunity for it. We therefore come, at the 

 urgent request of the officers of the local society, to Ithaca at this time, 

 and hope that we may be able to stimulate the fruit industry, which is 

 already very well established in its beginnings in this county. 



During the year I have received reports from the following fifteen local 

 societies: Ann Arbor, Bloomingdale and Gobleville, Saugatuck and 

 Ganges, Hudson. Muskegon, South Haven and Casco, Lenawee County, 

 Saranac, Oceana County, St. Clair County, Covert, Otsego, Lowell, Ottawa 

 County, and Laketown. These were in answer to circular letters asking 

 them to send me a complete list of their officers and members, with their 

 postoffice addresses, not only for reference for the work of the State 

 society, but that we would undertake to supply to them certain publica- 

 tions of our own and of the experiment station of this state and the 

 stations of other states. I wanted to obtain a great many more bulletins 

 than I was really able to secure. We did succeed in getting the national 

 Department of Agriculture to agree to send their horticultural bulletins 

 and publications; also, those of the Michigan experiment station and the 

 same of the Ohio experiment station. Corresponding with the stations 

 at Geneva, New York, and at Cornell university, I tried faithfully to get 

 them to do something, and in ^Massachusetts, but they all maintained that 

 their appropriations or their laws, or something of the kind, stood in the 

 way; and, while they would like to do it (and really I think tried to do it), 

 they found they could not, and they did not understand how Ohio could. 

 lUit to receive those of the experiment station of this state and the pub- 

 lications of the Department of Agriculture was certainly a great advan- 

 tage to our members. 



The local societies of the state are in good working order in the main. 

 I sj)oke one yeai' ago of the unfortunate condition of the Ann Arbor 

 society, which has lapsed through dissension of its members, due to 

 efforts in the way of co-operative shipping to Detroit, and it remains 



