STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 139 



are two schools in the country; one I saw and the other I heard 

 of. Give me a country where the people are compelled to be 

 active both in mind and body. In that country where fruits 

 abound you would not find any fruit upon the table, not even a 

 melon or an orange; they do not know how to live. If the treaty 

 is ratified we shall be compelled to compete with these people of 

 Mexico in the making of sugar. 



Prof. W. A. Henry, ofthe Wisconsin State University, Madison, 

 Wis., was then introduced but excused himself for the present 

 from making any remarks. 



Capt. Blakeley then proceeded to deliver the president's an- 

 nual address, as follows: 



CAPT. BLAKELEY' S ANNUAL ADDEESS. 



Gentlemen of the Convention : 



The address of your president in years past has contained a 

 general review of our industry within the State during the year, 

 as reported by its members assembled in convention. Owing to 

 the absence of many of the principal cane growers of the State 

 I have not been able to ascertain the amount of sugar and syrup 

 made within the State during the season. I hope this omission 

 may be supplied during the session so that it may appear in the 

 record of our proceedings. I am, however, able to say that the 

 season has been more than an average good one and that our 

 confidence is as strong as at any time in the past in the immense 

 importance of this industry to the State. As you are aware, the 

 convention and its sugar and syrups are very creditably repre- 

 sented in the great exposition at New Orleans, and our thanks 

 are due to the persons who have contributed to this result. Prof. 

 Porter, our worthy secretary, will address you on the situa- 

 tion and result of our exhibit, and I am sure that you may ex- 

 pect a gratifying report from him on this effort to call the atten- 

 tion of the general public to the result of our enterprize in 

 developing this new source of supply of sugar and syrup for our 

 consumption. 



The present condition ofthe sugar interest and its future wel- 

 fare I am sure is of sufficient interest to you to justify me in mak- 

 ing rather more than passing reference to it. As you are aware, 

 the increasing demand and supply of sugar throughout the com- 

 mercial world during the last decade is withjout a parallel in his- 

 tory. The average produce of cane sugar is annually about 



