ANNUAL MEETING 



OF 



MAINE STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



PORTLAND, XOVEMBER 12, I3 AND I4, I912. 



Tuesday P. M., at 2.00 o'clock. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 

 Hon. Oakley C. Curtis. Mayor of Portland. 

 Mr. Chair man, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



It is always a pleasure to welcome societies, conventions and 

 gatherings of all kinds to the City of Portland, and it gives me 

 special pleasure to extend to the Maine Pomological Society a 

 most hearty greeting and a sincere and cordial welcome. 



Portland aims to be a convention center and that was one of 

 the main ideas which inspired the building of this auditorium 

 and spurred on the builders to construct suitable quarters to 

 enable the city to care for all gatherings regardless of size. 

 This season does not mark the beginning of this idea, for Port- 

 land has been favored by visits of many organizations in the 

 past, but we now hope to take a wider range for the future. 



Portland is unquestionably destined to be a much larger and 

 more important city than it is today. Its geographical and nat- 

 ural position viewed from all points is secure. It was but a few 

 years ago (practically the span of a life) when Portland was 

 nothing more than a seaport town. In Blunt's "American 

 Coast Pilot" of the issue of 1833, the following reference is 

 made on sailing instructions entering our harbor : 



"In steering the above courses you will see a round bushy 

 tree to the north of the town, and a house with a red roof and 

 one chimney; bring the tree to west of the house, which course 

 will carry you up the channel in six or seven fathoms of water ; 



