PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 3 



To make such a society successful for a term of years, requires men to 

 engage in it who possess the rare qualities of self-sacrifice, patience, persever- 

 ance, and a good amount of common sense. 



The world is full of good men who are always ready to work for pay; but 

 they are few who can take upon their shoulders the burden of the manage- 

 ment of a benevolent work, and carry it on for years, and not weary of it. 

 For, in most of the localities where horticultural societies and farmers' clubs 

 are run, the work must be done for the love of doing it. Hence, I believe I 

 may venture the assertion that to tell how to manage successfully, for a long- 

 time, a local horticultural society, is a knotty problem. 



If it chance to be in a purely fruit-growing region, where that is the leading 

 busiuess, and where there is money at stake in the knowledge of how best to 

 fio-ht some destructive insect or disease that seriously interferes with the 

 income; or where organization is a necessity to develop or protect the market, 

 and a sort of mutual protection societv can live because of the money value in 

 the business, then the task is easy. But when there is no stimulus of that 

 sort, after the society has run till the novelty has gone, it will weaken, and 

 eventually die 



It is evident to all of us that a local horticultural society is a benefit to that 

 locality. In a general way and for a short time, as I have just stated, men and 

 women will labor very zealously for the general good. But you take away per- 

 sonal benefit, financially, and very soon personal effort will cease. 



This is not that the human family is personally selfish, but it becomes a ne- 

 cessity that the best of every man's life and talent must be used for the welfare 

 of his own family, and it is not a selfish wrong that prompts it, either. The 

 Bible teaches us that "a man who neglects to provide for his own household is 

 worse than an infidel." 



The local horticultural society here, whose guests you are, is a case in point. 

 I find from its records that it is more than a quarter of a century old. I find 

 among the early officers such names as Thomas M. Cooley, B. W. Steere, Wood- 

 land Owen, F. K. Stebbins and many more honored citizens of Adrian's youth- 

 ful days. 



The evidence of the unselfish zeal of these men is seen on every street of this 

 beautiful city, in the tasty lawns and luxuriant shade trees that line every street 

 and avenue of the town. 



But though this society has lived in name till to-day, there have been times 

 when its name was all there was of it. Why ? Because these men, when young 

 and active, bent their energies to this work just so long as prudence would allow. 

 Judge Cooley could not stay here to give his life to the local horticultural so- 

 ciety, but his great talent demanded a larger field, and he went away. Dr. 

 Owen found that however much he loved fruits and flowers, his profession must 

 be held first in importance to maintain a livelihood. The same is true of Helme, 

 of Sigler, of Steere and many others, and until some new theme or subject 

 appeared that aroused the old zeal again, the society would languish for a time. 

 The only pay these men have ever received has been the satisfaction of knowing 

 they have benefited their community. 



In the busy whirl of the daily life of Adrian's good people, few have stopped 

 to ask as they admired the beautifully arranged lawns and shady streets, who 

 was the designer of all this? but simply admired and passed on. There was no 

 rush to the quiet little gathering of those few who came together semi-occasion- 

 a,lly to hold and keep alive the Adrian Horticultural Society. No resolutions of 



