NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 8/ 



pies at that time. Among them was the Ben Davis, an ex- 

 hibit of which he had the audacity to take up there, and I 

 am sorry to say that Connecticut carried away the first prize on 

 that apple. Mr. Hale was the winner. Therefore, under 

 the circumstances, we do not hardly see how Mr. Hale could 

 be allowed to act as toastmaster at this meeting. Something- 

 ought to be done to a Connecticut man who will exhibit and 

 win prizes on Ben Davis apples. I do not wish to criticise 

 the gentleman, and trust that as he is not present it may not 

 be reported to him. (Laughter). However, we have with 

 us a gentleman from the southern part of the state, whom I 

 am sure will make good. I have the pleasure of introducing 

 to you to-night as toastmaster Dr. E. H. Jenkins, Director 

 of the State Experiment Station at New Haven. 



Dr. Jenkins : Friends of the Connecticut Pomological 

 Society : No one regrets as much as I do the absence of Mr. 

 Hale. I saw how the number of ladies in the audience re- 

 gretted it when they saw me in the place which he had been 

 chosen to occupy. (Laughter). Mr. Hale is not only an 

 admirable toastmaster, but he is also everywhere a cheerful 

 optimist, and optimism is what we need in our business. I am 

 not quite sure but an incident of which I read recently in the 

 papers illustrates the greatest piece of optimism in the coun- 

 try. A few years ago in New York an iron worker slipped 

 as he was working upon an iron beam at the sixteenth story 

 of one of their sky-scrapers, and fell headlong. As he plunged 

 downward, he called out to a person inside the building, "I 

 am all right so far." That man lost his life shortly after. 

 (Laughter). 



Now I hope you will not be disappointed in me to-night. 

 I never have tried to officiate in this capacity before. I have 

 been trying to remember all the afternoon what I could say, 

 or at least since I knew that I was to occupy this position. I 

 think I should have been afraid to occupy it if they had not 

 asked my friend, Dr. Twichell, to ask the blessing. Now, of 

 course, he is engaged in another field of labor in this state. 



