132 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Smythe — I have heard tell before of the same thing happening 

 when an infected tree was hauled through an orchard. That is accord- 

 ing to the law. It is covered with germs and if the affected parts are left 

 in the orchard the infection is liable to be carried to other trees. 



COMPETITIVE SPEAKING BY M. A. C. STUDENTS. 



Mr. Smytlie — This morning there is to be a conii>etitive five-minutes' 

 talk by the boys from the Agricultural College, and the audience is to 

 judge who is the winning man. In justice to the boys we want you to 

 listen very carefully so you can render a proper judgment in the matter. 



Professor Eustace will assist and it will probably be a little less em- 

 barrassing to have someone do this for the boys, with whom they are 

 personally acquainted. 



Professor Eustace — I wish it were possible to introduce every one of 

 you to every one of these young men, but that is impossible. I am very 

 anxious for them to know as many of you personally as possible, so 

 when you meet them around the hall or anywhere it would be appreciated 

 if you would walk right up to them, tell them who you are, where you 

 live, what you are doing and give them all the inspiration you can. 



You are to be the judge of their effort here, and I trust you will try 

 as well as you can to keep in mind the different names, appearance of 

 the men, so that you can vote intelligently. 



The firet speaker is Mr. U. S. Crane of Fennville and he will speak on 

 the subject of "Co-operation of Fruit Growers." 



Mr. Crane — Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am, i)erhaps, not 

 vei*y much at ease in a place like this because I am among men who 

 have had experience. Nevertheless, T believe there is one thing above all 

 tliat we as horticulturists and as fruit growers in Michigan need, and 

 that is co-operation. _ I believe we should have co-operation in Michigan 

 among Michigan horticulturists because we need higher standards of 

 judging, of sorting our fruits ; because we should have a broader field of 

 market; because we could get better rates and terms from the railroads 

 and other corporations, if we were united. As an instance of an associa- 

 tion that is accomplishing these results, let me call your attention to the 

 Hood River of the northwest. You perhaps know, some of you, more 

 than I do about the fruit growers' union in Hood River, but they are ac- 

 complishing great things for the fruit growers. They .are getting often- 

 times, as you know, as much for a box of apples as we are for a barrel. 

 This should not be, as we are much nearer to the markets. We should get 

 more for our apples than we do, and why do we not? Because we do 

 not sort them as well as they do, and also we cannot enforce a system 

 of sortage unless we have some organization as they do at Hood River. 

 They have an association there formed by the fruit growers; they have 

 a board of five directors and they have a manager which taJ^es care of 



