THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIS7 



dress by the presiding officer at tlie annual 

 meeting of tiie Fruit Growers' Association of 

 Ontario, I desire first of all to express my ap- 

 preciation of the honor conferred on me last 

 December in my election to this responsible 

 position, and to tender my hearty thanks to the 

 officers and directors, and more especially to our 

 energetic secretary-treasurer, for their hearty 

 co-operation with me in the affairs of the as- 

 sociation during the year. 



In reviewing the course of events of the year 

 just closing, I am free to confess that it would 

 have been quite easy to have entrusted this of- 

 fice to hands far better qualified and more com- 

 petent than my own to discharge the duties 

 creditably and in a satisfactory manner. Hov/- 

 ever, as I was not responsible for the error in 

 judgment in the selection made, and am not con- 

 scious of any culpable neglect of duty, I can now 

 restore the trust without any vain regrets as to 

 wasted opportunities or a wilful disregard of the 

 interests of the Association. 



I am very glad to state to you in a general 

 way what has been brought out more fully and 

 in greater detail by the secretary in his report, 

 that the year has been one of progress and ad- 

 vancement upon lines of work laid out by the 

 executive and directorate of the Association in 

 connection with the educational campaign car- 

 ried on throughout the various fruit growing 

 districts of the province. 



I trust at this annual meeting some action of 

 importance with reference to the general policy 

 of the Association may be taken that will tend 

 to maintain our position in the front rank of the 

 agricultural interests of this magnificent heri- 

 tage of ours, the Province of Ontario. 



In the years that have gone by it has been 

 customary in this address, at times, to indulge 

 in some reminiscences regarding the early 

 struggles and triumphs of the Association. We 

 are approaching the half century mark of our 

 existence as an association, and have passed the 

 quarter century mark in the history of our 

 magazine, and I believe that I am right in stat- 

 ing that there is only one gentleman that can 

 claim to have taken an active part in the or- 

 ganization of this Association away back in the 

 early sixties, who is with us to-night. I refer 

 to our respected friend and enthusiastic horti- 

 culturist. Honorary Director A. M. Smith. 



While our Association has had its vicissitudes 

 and its struggles, its progress has been ever on- 

 ward and upward, and It has stood during all 

 these years for what ever was for the greatest 

 good of the fruitgrower, whether ^his acres be 

 many, or only the modest town Iot;'and through- 

 out our broad Dominion there is not a tiller of 

 the soil, there Is not an artisan or mechanic, 

 there is not a merchant or manufacturer, there 

 Is not a single individual, no matter what his 

 position In life, but to a greater or less extent 

 is under obligation to this Association for much 

 that adds to the beauty of his home surround- 

 ings and to the comfort and health of his family 

 life. The immense strides that have been made 

 in the beautifying of town and country places, 

 ani In the vast increase in the production of the 



many and varied fruits throughout the country 

 are largely due to the earnest men and women 

 who have been connected with this Association, 

 and who have drawn inspiration from the an- 

 nual meetings held in the various parts of the 

 province from time to time, and who have gath- 

 ered knowledge from a perusal of the reports of 

 the addresses delivered at these meetings; from 

 the work of our experiments; and last, but not 

 least, from the columns of the Canadian Horti- 

 culturist, so ably conducted by our editor, Mr. 

 Linus Woolverton. 



These facts are, however, known to most of 

 you, and it is quite unnecessary that I should 

 enlarge upon them at this time. Permit me, 

 however, to express the hope that we may not 

 rest on the laurels and traditions of the past, 

 but that, enthused by what has been accom- 

 plished by those who have guided our Associa- 

 tion so wisely and so well, we may be able v) 

 take higher vantage ground in the future and 

 make our influence felt not only in legislative 

 halls but also in the councils of the great trans- 

 portation companies, and, with the powerful 

 consolidations of capital that are absorbing so 

 many of the avenues for the disposition of the 

 products of our orchards and vineyards, in such 

 a way as will secure even-handed justice to each 

 and every member of this Association in his 

 business relations with the public. 



It will not be out of place here, on behalf of 

 the Association, to tender to the Minister of 

 Agriculture our appreciation of the kindly in- 

 terest he and the officials of his department 

 have continually taken in every movement that 

 has had for Its object the advancement of horti- 

 culture In this province, and the substantial 

 manner In which that interest has been mani- 

 fested from year to year as circumstances have 

 warranted. We believe that we have in the 

 Hon. Mr. Dryden, a gentleman who is thorough- 

 ly in sympathy with the agriculture of the pri- 

 vince and is eminently well qualified for the 

 position which he so ably fills. 



Gov. Odell, of the State of New York, ob- 

 served In his address at Niagara Falls before 

 the Farmers' National Congress a few weeks 

 ago, that government financial assistance to the 

 agricultural Interests of the country was not 

 paternalism, but tended to develop and encour- 

 age good citizenship In the broadest sense of the 

 term and was a proper and legitimate use of th? 

 public funds. Our Provincial Department of 

 Agriculture ha,s fully realized this principle in 

 the past, and it remains for us to provide proper 

 channels for development and progress and to 

 lay our plans before the department in a busi- 

 nesslike way, when I have no doubt our requests 

 for further financial aid will receive careful con- 

 sideration. 



During the past year a new horticultural or- 

 ganization has been formed called the Canadian 

 League for Civic Improvement. While this is 

 a separate and distinct organization, arrange- 

 ments have been effected whereby our associa- 

 tion is represented on Its board of management; 

 the Canadian Horticulturist has been selected 

 as the official organ of the League, and a special 



