170 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.- 



day in going around through that fifteen acres, and explain- 

 ing what kind of material this tree had been sprayed with, or 

 what he had done to this tree, and how this one had been 

 treated. And I stepped around the outskirts and listened, and 

 those men were just as intensely interested, and they hting 

 around, and Dr. Waite was crowded so that he could hardly 

 have elbow room, and they found all sorts of things on the 

 gound under the trees, on the limbs, in the trees and on the 

 fruit, that they wanted to know about, that I believe, my 

 friends, that when we got through with that experiment, those 

 men were better apple pickers, and they did better work for 

 me the next day than they had ever done before, and they are 

 coming back again next year. I believe that was the first 

 attempt with anything like that sort of a crowd of workmen 

 in the state of Virginia. 



With regard to our exhibits, the State Horticultural So- 

 ciety, like yours, had been in existence some twenty-five years, 

 but up to nine years ag'o had never made an exhibit of fruit. 

 Nine years ago we had our meeting in Lynchburg, Virginia, 

 and before the meeting I thought the time had come to make 

 some sort of a fruit exhibit. So I went around through my 

 county, and I went out to what we call the Pine Hill section 

 of the state, land which is not considered very valuable, and 

 I bought half a bushel of peaches that I had happened to see 

 out there on another occasion, which was very fine. Then I 

 went to another farmer and he gave me those big turnips that 

 I had stumbled on, and then I came back through a neighbor's 

 orchard. I wrapped the peaches and turnips and apples in 

 paper, including some York Imperials from a neighboring 

 orchard, and Pippins from my own, and took them in a flour 

 barrel. And when I landed in Lynchburg, I had to go and 

 buy two kitchen tables and put on the floor in the main hall 

 right down in front of me, and that was the first apple show 

 ever made by the State Horticultural Society in Virginia, 

 nine vears ago. So we are making progress, and you are 

 making progress. 



