STATE POMOIvOGICAL SOCIETY. II 



spot and there I saw one apple tree loaded with beautiful fruit, 

 one of the many instances illustrating the old age and hardiness 

 of that fruit of our Maine soil. I tried to picture in my mind 

 the planting of that tree by the pioneer; his interest, before the 

 days of grafting and budding, in the first fruits of the tree, and 

 his pleasure in finding it of pleasant flavor and a good keeper. 

 I imagined the children of that old time home bringing those 

 apples up from the cellar and eating them before the broad 

 hearthstone, while their great fires up the chimney roared. And 

 still the old tree flourished while their children and their chil- 

 dren's children lived and passed away ; and no man in that town 

 today can tell the name of those settlers or point to you their 

 last resting place, while that tree stands, hardy, vigorous, pro- 

 ductive, typical of the stock that settled these Maine farms, its 

 May time bloom and the blushing fruit illustrating the girls 

 of Maine as they then were and as they now are. There is no 

 fruit like the apple. Let us thank the Giver of all good and 

 perfect gifts that it finds its most congenial environment upon 

 these grand old hills of the State of Maine. 



RESPONSE. 



By President G. M. Twitchell. 



In behalf of the Maine State Pomological Society I wish to 

 express our obligations to you for the cordial invitation and 

 the hearty assistance rendered in perfecting the plans for this 

 gathering. It is a double pleasure to me, standing in this posi- 

 tion, for I am coming back home where I have spent twenty 

 years in work upon these streets and among some of >"ou who 

 are now residents and active in the work here. To come back 

 here among the old associates and greet them and be greeted, 

 as I have been in the past few days, is, I assure you, a pleasure 

 which will be remembered long after I have returned to my 

 present home. It is a pleasure to me to stand here to express 

 our obligations because I appreciate what Augusta has been 

 doing in the years for itself in the improvements which have 

 come upon your streets and business places, in the enterprise 

 which has been manifested all along your lines, knowing that 

 what tends to the improvement of any town or city in the State 



