ANNUAL MEETING AT LEXINGTON. 219 



at its command. It is work, too, which cannot be done by individuals 

 who are engaged in the practical business of fruit growing or garden- 

 ing, yet when the work is done and the information gathered and prop- 

 erly disseminated, it can be utilized by all. 



But here we have been pointing out work which would keep a 

 number employed all the time, when our Society has not the means to 

 half pay its Secretary. Much. unpaid labor and time does he now give 

 to the cause which he loves, when he should be paid a salary in return 

 for his entire time. Could his time be wholly devoted to the horticul- 

 tural interests of the State, he could do much more efficient work. He 

 should be able to visit local societies and give them aid and encourage- 

 ment ; to organize societies where none exist ; to get up full monthly 

 crop reports; to perfect methods of transportation of and marketing 

 fruits ; to offer premiums to local societies for displays and collections 

 ■of horticultural products, and get up displays of the same at State and 

 ]J«[ational exhibitions, which would tell to the world what a grand hor- 

 ticultural State Missouri is. 



AThat sum of money is needed by the Horticultural Society to 

 perform this work, a portion only of which has been suggested ? If 

 810,000 were set apart by the State for the exclusive benefit of the 

 horticultural interests it would return $500,000 to the State's wealth. 

 Suppose 85,000 were offered by the Society in premiums to the various 

 counties in the State for displays of fruits, and these fruits exhibited 

 where the people from all over this and other countries could see the 

 magnificent collection, and ten men worth, on an average, $5,000 each, 

 •were induced to settle in our midst. 



Thus would $50,000 be added at once to the wealth of the 

 State and she receive at the same time additions to the best class of 

 citizens she possesses, and who would from that time on add to the 

 State's revenues. Moreover the effort put forth by those competing 

 for the premiums would result in an increased and improved product 

 to the value far exceeding the amount expended. Suppose the State 

 society had a few thousand dollars to expend on experimental fruit 

 farms in different sections of the State, where authoritative and ex- 

 haustive tests of the value of different fruits could be made. How 

 many thousands it would save by showing what varieties should and 

 "what should not be planted. Then with the secretary paid not less 

 than 81,200 per year, a botanist to be paid $1,000, and an entomologist 

 $1,000, it is easy to see that $10,000 is hardly adequate to the needs of 

 the case. 



It may be said that this sum is more than the people of the State 



