Annual Meeting at St. Joseph. 151 



I wish we might have yearly reports of the amount produced 

 from our orchards from our small fruit farmers and from our vine- 

 yards. These would be very valuable to our state and as information 

 to send abroad. 



Our Society can scarcely undertake such a work without more 

 money to work on. Yet every day I see the need of this more and 

 more. Other states give reports of the amount of fruit produced 

 and the value of the crop while I cannot give them an answer in 

 return. 



The value of the apple crop in some of our counties runs up 

 into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, while that of small fruits 

 is worth nearly or quite as much. And if the value of the fruit 

 crop of the state was correctly ascertained we would be astonished 

 at the amount. 



I thus give you some of these thoughts and wants of our Society, 

 not in a fault finding way : but because we want to know them for 

 the benefit of the society. Knowing these things we will have some 

 object in view, some end to obtain in our work, 



Giving you then the results of our last year's work and an idea 

 of the future work is the only apology I give for the length of my 

 paper. 



ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 



The following officers were elected for 1885 : 



J. C. EVANS, Harlem, President. 

 E. P. HENRY, Butler, Vice-President. 

 L. A. GrOODMAN, Westport, Secretary. 

 Z. S. RAGrAN, Independence, Treasurer. 



The following resolutions were presented to the Society and by 

 a unanimous rising vote of the members they were adopted. 



The Missouri State Horticultural Society in its twenty- 

 seventh annual session assembled, desires to give exj^ression 

 to the views of its members in regard to the appointment of a 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, when the term of the present incum- 

 bent shall expire. 



Heretofore most of the appointees to this office have been 

 residents of the eastern section of this country. The Mississippi 

 Valley is the central region of our agricultural wealth, the great 



