VARIOUS NATIONAL SOCIETIES. 133 



grape, but it does not seem to be of the same species as our American grapes. 

 The skin is very thin and smooth, the flavor fine. The other variety is darker. 

 He did not think the Concord would suit his people. They are beginning to 

 import new varieties, and pay more attention to grape-growing. Three years 

 ago a vineyard of 1,200 acres was planted. The Chinese have raised grapes 

 and made wine for centuries, but the Japanese are only commencing. One 

 reason Avhy the Japanese are so slow in raising fruits is that they use more 

 vegetables than we do. 



The afternoon session closed with a paper by E. H. Hart on the beauty of 

 the Florida climate and the promises of the cut flower trade for northern con- 

 sumers. 



Evening Session. 



In the evening Mayor Gardner welcomed the society to Cleveland, in a brief 

 and appropriate address, which was responded to by President Earle in a grace- 

 ful manner. He then followed with his annual address, which was an able 

 and comprehensive review of the rise and progress of horticulture in this coun- 

 try, and its present condition. He traced the marvelous growth of horticul- 

 ture in Ohio from the days of Johnny Appleseed down to the present, and paid 

 a high tribute to that romantic pioneer of fruit culture. The nurserymen of 

 Ohio should erect a monument to his memory 



" It was not many years ago," he said, " when all the peaches used in that 

 wonderful fruit market, Chicago, were grown in one orchard. Now the orch- 

 ards of many States are required to furnish the hundreds of car loads that 

 daily pour into Chicago." 



President Earle suggested the need of a pomologieal bureau under government 

 charge, and of experimental stations. Central Russia has been building up a 

 race of fruit almost under the arctic circle that has for hundreds of years- 

 withstood the hard winters and arid summers. An investigation of these 

 fruits with a view to their introduction in the interior of the United States 

 should be made. The complaint of over-production in fruit growing is not so- 

 much due to over-production as imperfect distribution. Apples in New York 

 and Michigan last fall seemed too plentiful, but many a family out of the range 

 of the apple district went unsupplied. 



He spoke at some length on the rapid destruction of our forests, and the bad 

 results that have followed in producing extremes of climate, of drouth and 

 flood, frost and heat. Ohio, in 1853, had 45 per cent of her surface covered 

 with timber; in 1881, but 17 per cent. No wonder the Ohio valley was visited 

 annually by destructive floods, and that the climate had changed for the worse. 

 It seemed that the State was making rapid strides towards the agricultural con- 

 dition of Arabia, aud Ohio stands for America. " I quail before the inexorable 

 penalties which nature has in store for all States and peoples who will ruthless- 

 ly destroy so glorious a heritage of forest as the American people once pos- 

 sessed. Without forests no successful agriculture is possible, and no high 

 civilization can be maintained." 



With regard to agencies to assist in the progressive movement of horticul- 

 ture, he mentioned societies as among the most important: 



" Societies bring people together for the comparison and enlargement of 

 views. There is scarcely a State in the Union that does not show the fruits of 



