STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 45 



upon fruit topics. The first address was by the Hon. Z. A. Gil- 

 bert, who was then president of the society, and we think a mem- 

 ber of the Board of^griculture For several yfars past we have 

 held a public meeting one evening of the fair, at which papers 

 were read and discussions were part cipated in by those in attend- 

 ance. 



The first winter meeting of the society was held in Augusta the 

 year following the organization of the society. After calling the 

 meeting to order President Gilbert introduced the Hon. S L. 

 Goodale, who delivered an address on the question, "Shall the 

 State of Maine grow her own fruit trees, or buy ihem from other 

 states?" It is proper to remark at this point that Mr. Goodale was 

 a zealous friend of the farmer, and in fruit matters as well as other 

 agricultural atfairs was sound to the core. Discussions followed 

 and other papers were read, and if we may believe the report, 

 which was ably edited by Geo. B. Sawyer, Esq., the first and 

 ablest secretary the society has ever had, the meeting was of a 

 high order and compares favorably with other meetings held by the 

 Society since. Each year siice a winter meeting has been held in 

 some part of the State. A two days' programme (and in several 

 instances more than two days) has been carried out, and in each 

 instance, so far as the writer knows, the paeetings have awakened 

 great interest in pomological affairs. The programmes at these 

 meetings consisted of papers and discussions upon fruit maters. 

 Some of the papers are of a high order, and as reported in our 

 transactions are not excelled by those given before similar organi- 

 zations in other states. 



A fruit exhibit has formed an attractive feature of these 

 gatherings, and has been closely examined and much enjoyed. 



With the exception of two or three years, when the wisdom of 

 the legislature withheld funds, or rather denied the farmers of the 

 State the advantages of an agricultural report, the transactions of 

 this Society have been carefully edited and published for distribu- 

 tion in the State. 



SPECIAL MENTION. 



Of the original members of the Society it is a pleasure to mention 

 some whose devotion to its interests has had very much to do with 

 establi:hing it on a firm foundation. Its first president, the Hon. Z. 

 A. Gilbert, of Greene, was at the time of his election a prosperous 

 farmer and a member of the State Board of Agriculture. Later he 



