ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT APPLETON. H 



•on the first Saturday of each month, with the names of such per- 

 sons as they recommend for election. Judging by the present 

 custom in clubs and associations, it is a fair interpretation of this 

 last provision tliat such names are to be either kept on file, or 

 posted in the building by the Secretary until the next stated 

 meeting, when they shall be voted upon by the Society. 



I believe that it may increase the interest in the Society to 

 follow the plan which is thus suggested by our constitution, 

 rather than to adjourn our stated meetings with very little occa- 

 sion, as has been simply a custom. I believe this will be return- 

 ing to a former custom. 



During the past year the Society has lost by death 33 life 

 members, and gained 24 ; and has lost by death 13 annual mem- 

 bers, and by commutation to life membership 1 ; while 5 annual 

 members have resigned, making a loss of 19 annual members, 

 with a gain of 18. 



The use of the library appears to have decreased, and I sug- 

 gest that if the Committee on the Library shall make a rule lim- 

 iting the time during which books can be kept from the library 

 room, such a rule might help develop the usefidness of the 

 library. The value of the library should become better known to 

 the students of horticulture, and it is hoped that such may result. 



I commend to your careful consideration the several reports of 

 your Standing Committees, from which you will gain information 

 - as to those departments, and learn of the suggestions therein made 

 for the good of the Society. 



Those reports will be printed in the Transactions, which I hope 

 will be issued soon, in order that their usefulness to you may 

 thus be the greater. With the intelligence that can be found 

 in our printing offices today, those can be found who will assume 

 the responsibility of technical work, and thus expedite to our 

 benefit in this case, for example, what might otherwise cause 

 much delay under old-fashioned methods. 



The interest in the miishroom, a most nourishing food when 

 the edible species are known to the gardener, has grown largely 

 within the past few years, and a more general knowledge among 

 our people of what are the edible species, and what are their 

 characteristics, is desirable. 



I have asked Mr. Hollis Webster, an expert, to give me a few 

 points to incorporate into my address, but as he has so well 



