ANNUAL MEETING 



OF 



MAINE STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



LEWISTON, NOVEMBER l8, I9 AND 20, I913. 



Tuesday Evening, November i8. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 



Hon. W. B. Skelton, President Lewiston Chamber of Com- 

 merce. 



I rejoice in the opportunity in behalf of the business and 

 professional interests of Lewiston to participate with you in 

 the opening exercises of your annual exhibition. A word of 

 appreciation of the work of your organization is pleasant and 

 appropriate. A word of explanation of the work and purposes 

 of our organization will, I trust, not be out of place. And a 

 suggestion or two concerning our reciprocal obligations cannot 

 be entirely without profit. 



Your society has been in existence for a period of forty 

 years. The Act of incorporation was signed by Gov. Perham, 

 February 17, 1873. I am not familiar with its more remote 

 past. I presume it must have traveled the up-hill road common 

 to all pioneers in a work of general uplift. The fact that it 

 has maintained its organization during all this time and is 

 today a state-wide institution drawing patronage and exhibits 

 from all parts of the Commonwealth speaks well for the pur- 

 poses of the society and the persistence of its officers and 

 members. 



When we read the announcements for the meetings and see 

 the exhibits shown we are impressed with your present strength. 

 You have drawn together a list of speakers that amply testifies 

 to your standing at home and abroad. You are offering 272 



