70 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Let US remember that its good name is largely in our own 

 hands. 



But on this return to our birthplace I should be remiss in my 

 duty if I failed to call your attention to the very large increase 

 in the production of small fruits. When we went forth from 

 your midst, years ago, there were many in Maine who scouted 

 at the idea of growing small fruits. Some said there were enough 

 and to spare upon our hillsides, and others said they would not 

 thrive. Through the influence of the agencies at work in the 

 State there are none to-day who question our ability to grow 

 small fruits. Where there was one farmer then who raised 

 strawberries there are now scores, and thanks to the good work 

 that is still going forward the number is increasing. The 

 same is true in the culture of flowers. More flowers are grown 

 in Maine and the end is not yet. Before our meeting is through 

 we shall illustrate by our speakers some of the flower study that 

 is having its influence in our schools, and the influence is a good 

 one, for when you teach a child the name of a plant or flower 

 and get him to studying it you have revealed to him a field of 

 unlimited pleasure which he will be only too glad to enjoy. 

 Nature study, the school people call it, is now being talked 

 about by the teachers and school officers, and they are intelli- 

 gently seeking out the best method of teaching the great prin- 

 ciples of vegetable life. 



I have spoken to you of these things briefly to show you how 

 rapidly along the chosen lines of our work as a society the State 

 has been advancing, but for all this when we look into the future 

 we can see that the work is only begun, and that the increase of 

 knowledge calls upon us for more work and for more intelli- 

 gent work. But the fruit growers of Maine, as I see them repre- 

 sented here before me to-day, have no idea of turning back,and as 

 the burdens are laid upon them there comes the increased power 

 of bearing them, and increased ability to aid others in the great 

 work before them. Sure, the more we know of the good things 

 God has given us in this world and the more we know how to 

 enjoy them ourselves, and the more we do to aid others in 

 enjoying them, the more there is to live for and the greater is 

 the divine light with which our lives are filled. 



I thank you heartily for this very cordial welcome you have 

 so freely tendered us, you will expect from us more than in the 



