



^ 1 



26 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



bring messages throughout these ses- 

 sions; bless us all and keep us in Thy 

 favor and in Thy life, and in the end 

 that we may all be assembed around 

 the throne of God, where we will praise 

 Thee world without end, through Jesus 

 Christ our Lord, Amen. 



President Baxter — Our next number 

 wil be the address of welcome by Mr. 

 Prather. 



Address of Welcome. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



Your secretary, Mr. Stone, invited 

 me to address you on this occasion, 

 and I have been trying to reach a de- 

 cision in my own mind, since that 

 time, why he should have called on me 

 for that purpose, as I am sure I know 

 nothing about bee culture and am 

 afraid I am taking this honor away 

 from the "City Dads", who I supposed 

 under such circumstances were the 

 proper authorities to welcome all to 

 our city. 



However, the one excuse I can find 

 for doing so is that I have been a citi- 

 zen of this city and county since 1867, 

 and am now secretary of the Sanga- 

 mon County Farmers' Association, and 

 I understand that it is necessary that 

 bees shoud be introduced into our sec- 

 tion in order that the farmers may 

 have the opportunity to reap and 

 thresh clover seed, and this to my 

 mind is of great importance, as under 

 the present conditions we need clover 

 to put humus into the soils. There- 

 fore, being largely interested in this 

 agricultural proposition, I can, to this 

 extent, give you a hearty welcome to 

 our county and city, and hope that 

 your deliberations may be pleasant and 

 profitable. 



Another reason why I feel that I 

 should welcome you, is that I am very 

 much interested in developing side 

 lines for the farmers of our county, 

 and I am sure that many of the 

 farmers should be brought to a realiza- 

 tion of their needs in this direction, 

 especially when our food products and 

 living expenses are at such a high 

 point. 



The apiary, along with the poultry 

 and dairy business, furnishes a side 

 line for the family that must assist 

 much, when intelligently engaged in, 

 and will bring in a good many dollars 

 to be used in paying their grocery bills 

 and dry goods bills. 



Besides, I have always looked upon" 

 a family who turned their thoughts 

 and labor to the building up of an 

 apiary as more trustworthy and care- 

 taking than the average citizen. 



To me there seems associated with 

 bee culture a larger appreciation of 

 home and the duties of life, so that, 

 when I view from this standpoint the 

 citizens of our state, I extend to you a 

 double welcome to our city and hope 

 that you will return to your homes 

 with a determination to extend to your 

 neighbors this increased privilege that 

 should be theirs as well as yours. And 

 that thereby their vision of good 

 things in this world may be in- 

 creased. 



Our education is hardly worth while 

 unless it enlarges our vision suffi- 

 ciently to see the needs of our neigh- 

 bors — county, state and country. And, 

 if each one of us will try to help in the 

 development of our agricultural re- 

 sources and citizenship, we may look 

 forward to a country unequaled in any 

 respect by any other country in this or 

 any other age. And it certainly should 

 be the effort of every citizen possessing 

 any acres of this once fertile land to 

 restore It to its virgin fertility and 

 transmit it to posterity equal in all 

 respects to its original productiveness. 



I thank you. 



Secretary Stone — Before our minister 

 gets away, I move a vote of thanks to 

 him for his attendance at this meet- 

 ing. 



Motion seconded and carried. 



President Baxter — The next number 

 will be the response of the. President 

 and the address of welcome, also the 

 President's annual address. 



President Baxter — Before I proceed 

 further, I wish to thank Mr. Newburn 

 ■for this beautiful bouquet; I certainly 

 appreciate it very much; I did not 

 expect anything of the kind; it is very 

 nice. ^ 



So far as the President's address is 

 concerned, I am sorry to be obliged to 

 say that I have been so busy during all 

 the season I have not given it a single 

 thought. 



I was unfortunate enough to lose 

 my main hand recently, during the 

 month of August, the only man I had 

 who could work with the bees; he was 

 taken sick and died; and several hands 

 were taken sick; I have been up 

 against it all season. 



