1865.] president's address. 7 



be hoped, to tlie happiness and comfort of the people in the community which 

 encourages and sustains us. 



But I know it will be pressed home upon us, "we are in debt — we should 

 save every thing until we have that discharged — then we shall be a power for 

 good," — a specious argument, and one which if acted upon, is fraught with much 

 mischief to the well-being of the Society. We might indeed be a power then, 

 but without a field in which to exercise it. I yield to no man in my dislike of the 

 responsibilities of debt, in any of its forms — or in my desire to see the one now 

 resting upon our association diminished, or extinguished altogether. But the 

 reduction, or extinction of that debt, should not be the paramount object of our 

 efforts. On the other hand, I would not, for the sake of making the volume of 

 that debt smaller, by one or two hundred dollars, more or less, annuallv, stran- 

 gle the Society for all purposes of practical good. Use rather, all the means 

 at your command to infuse new life into it, to make it stronger, more active, 

 more efficient, and 3'ou will have done that which will enable you more easily 

 to control that debt or to throw it off entirely, at a much earlier day, to the re- 

 lief of those who now regard it as of such huge proportions. 



Let us then use the means placed at our disposal with such wisdom as we 

 may command — spending liberally, but not lavishly, or wastcfully ; — alwavs 

 practising a true economy, and neglecting no opportunity of making our or- 

 ganization more efficient and vigorous in its action, proving ourselves, within 

 the circle of our influence, an instrument of substantial good to such as choose 

 to avail themselves of our efforts ; thus gaining strength to ourselves while en- 

 deavoring to impart aid and assistance to others. 



The Weekly Exhibitions, which have become for a few years past an estab- 

 lished feature in the labors of the Society, have been kept up during the sea- 

 son ; and as we have approached our annual festival, the general and active in- 

 terest in them has very decidedly increased. Their continuance, sustained as it 

 is by contributions from so many different sources, even by members in some in- 

 stances from the adjoining towns, renders the fact more obvious than ever, that 

 they are of incalculable value to those at all interested in the subject of horti- 

 culture. And to those who are selecting trees, and planting orchards and fruit 

 yards, no place offers itself where an hour can be more profitably spent, once in 

 a week, than here. I would venture to suggest, in this connection, whether a 

 committee might not be appointed, whose duty it should be, by some one of its 

 members, to note down from week to week, in the form of a brief record, the 

 appearance, quality and general characteristics of the different varieties of the 

 several fruits, as they are exhibited in their ripe state, with such occasional 

 facts and information as they may be able to obtain in relation to the mode of 

 their culture and the character of the different soils on which they are produced ; 

 the whole to be embodied in a report for publication with our Transactions. To 

 those who are engaged in the subject practically, it would furnish something to 

 which they could refer with confidence, and by which they may be guided in 

 their selections to suit their tastes and wants, and in the adaptation of their 

 soil to the growth and production of the different varieties. 

 10 



