114 MISSUURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



Secretary Goodman then made the following report : 



Mcnibej-s of the Missouri State Horticultural Society : 



Our cause is a work of love and pleasure as well as one of trials and 

 troubles. We have reason to be thankful more than for complaining. 

 When I see the troubles and cares of so many thousands of our people 

 in our cities, I am glad that I live and work in the country. In the con- 

 tinued stress of money matters we find our farmers and fruit growers in 

 close places doing without many things which they perhaps need, work- 

 ing under many disadvantages, rising early and toiling late, and yet at 

 the close of the year find themselves with not many extra dollars in their 

 pockets, and they complain, and find fault, put the cause of all their 

 trouble on someone or something else than the right place. They blame 

 nature, the government, the state, the county, and the place in which 

 they live, and wish, if they could only sell out, to quit it and do some 

 other business. 



The other day I was talking to one of our business men in Kansas 

 City and he was complaining of his results. ** Why," he said, "to think, 

 that after the year of hard work, money invested, money handled, run- 

 ning up into thousands of dollars, I have scarcely a dollar left." And 

 he begun to find fault with the times, the money matters, the tariff the 

 country in general, because of the drouths and small crops, the political 

 parties, and the " money kings." So when I see comfort and pleasure in a 

 good home in the country, I feel that at least if we have not wealth, we 

 have comfort and above all safety — Safety to ourselves, safety to our 

 families, safety to our boys and girls who are to take up the future work. 

 The fact is that we must deny ourselves many things ; we must live eco- 

 nomically, we must figure closer, we must look for improvements in ev- 

 ery department of our work, we must work more systematically, thor- 

 oughly and scientifically ; the time of spontaneous growth has passed and 

 now we must have intensified farming and fruit growing, we must have 

 more intelligent means used in all our departments of work. 



ORCHARDING. 



What we want now is earnest, systematic, judicious, and enthusias- 

 tic fruit growing, one which will adopt every known means to a success- 



