114 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



In the matter of vegetable work, we have done but little. So 

 you see about where we are, and our promise to paj' comes from the 

 addition to our organization, the increased facilities at the present 

 time. The word has been, "Go West, young man;" but two or 

 three years ago one of the graduates of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College began to think, (that is my imagination) that possibly there 

 might be something farther East ; that somewhere about the sunrise 

 there might be something learned, so he came East as far as New 

 York, and imbibed all he could at Cornell University and then came 

 towards the sunrise. He came to Maine, reversing the old adage, 

 "Go West V and he said, go East ; which I commend to the young men 

 of Maine. We have in that man, an enthusiast along the line ; and 

 while he is somewhat ignorant of the conditions of the State, I 

 think he means to identify himself with the market garden interests, 

 and takes hold of the experimental work, not only in the interests 

 of the Pomological Society, but in market gardening you will see 

 him later. 



Now this constitutes my report for the station. We are just lay- 

 ing the foundation. We have been late about it ; I have no promises 

 to make. I want to throw out this, because the experiment stations 

 ot this countr}' are already doing a great deal for agriculture. I 

 believe that to be the fact ; but we must remember that we are only 

 .one of the means of progress. Because the experiment station exists 

 there is none the less need of careful work on the part of individuals 

 •or active work on the part of associations. The experiment station 

 twill simply do a little in the midst of the great deal that is to be 

 done. That is all. It has its existence because it can do a peculiar 

 kind of work that the farmer and fruit grow^er and the associations 

 cannot do : — which is the study of priyiciples ; the study of founda- 

 tion facts to reach knowledge, which if reached in other places and 

 other ways, must be reached much more slowly. That is all that can 

 be expected from the work of the station. They simply propose to 

 apply themselves to a careful study of principles and to an extent 

 to practice, in the various lines in which they are at work. 



