SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 185 



President Lyon called to order and without preliminaries took up the pro- 

 gramme of business, calling for reading of correspondence. Letters express- 

 ing in various ways regrets for absence were read by the secretary from A. C. 

 Glidden, of Paw Paw; L. Woolverton, secretary of the Ontario Fruit-growers' 

 society; Geo. P. Peffer of Pewaukee, Wis.; W. C. Phillio of Big Rapids, who 

 took occasion to warmly commend the Wealthy apple ; John W. Van Deman 

 of Benzonia, who deprecated the practice of growing wheat with orchard pro- 

 ducts; Col. G. B. Brackett of the Iowa Horticultural society, who was the 

 -expert on the fruit committee at this year's State exhibition at Jackson. 



President Lyon's annual address was then read, after he had called Vice- 

 President Gibson to the chair. It was as follows: 



THE PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL MESSAGE. 



To the Members of the Michigan State Horticultural Society: 



The cycles of another year have returned U3 to our annual starting point, at 

 which it seems appropriate to pause to review the past, and in the light of its 

 experiences to consider whether or not the finger points us to different lines of 

 action. 



Your executive board have observed that a continuous recurrence of the 

 same series of premium offerings at our annual fairs tends strongly to the 

 creation of a set of chronic exhibitors. As a means of avoiding this tendency, 

 it has been the practice to institute occasional modifications of our system of 

 offerings. In pursuance of this idea some very decided changes were intro- 

 duced into our premium list for the fair of last September. 



Among these a prominent and hitherto unprecedented one was the collect- 

 ing and displaying of what was designated as an educational exhibit, to be 

 made up of new, unknown, or little known varieties carefully collected, cor- 

 rectly named, and distinctly labeled, on which no premium was to be awarded 

 but which was to serve as a means of acquainting visitors with unfamiliar 

 varieties and identification of such as might be esteemed doubtful. It is 

 obviously desirable that the results of this step, so far, be freely discussed as 

 means of indicating the proper direction for future action. The offer of 

 2)remiums for meritorious seedlings had the effect to bring forward several of 

 apparently high promise. The limiting of the number of varieties to be 

 included in family collections is open to the charge that it may tend to with- 

 draw from the knowledge of the public many of the finest of our amatuer 

 fruits, notwithstanding their peerless qualities, they baving fallen under the 

 ban of the market test of value, which to-day largely dictates the choice of 

 varieties even for the family orchard. 



Under the influence of the depression consequent upon the financial loss at 

 the fair of 1885, the Agricultural society instituted a process of general con- 

 traction of its expenses of the present year. This contraction was made to 

 apply in equal proportion to its customary allowances to this society, with the 

 result of reducing the sum to be offered in premiums to $800. The society 

 failed to sufficiently reduce the amount of its offerings, with the result that a 

 very considerable sum has been taken from our general fund to cover an excess 

 of premiums. This, with the large deduction from the sum heretofore allowed 

 us for our own expenses in connection with the fair, has seriously crippled our 

 resources and restricted our action. It seems indispensable to efficient action 

 on our part, as well as a continuation of our previously high reputation in con- 



