No. 4.] FRUIT CULTURE. 117 



THIRD DAY. 



The meeting was called to order at 10.15 a.m. by Secre- 

 tary Sessions, who said: Mr. E. W. Wood, vice-president 

 of the Board, a man as well posted on fruit as any member 

 of the Board, will preside at this meeting. The members of 

 the Board feel that they will be honored and favored by the 

 presence of our chosen vice-president in the chair. He has 

 very modestly and courteously avoided presiding heretofore, 

 and has named various gentlemen to fill the chair, and they 

 have all done well ; but we depend on the ' ' war-horse " this 

 morning. 



The Chairman. Gentlemen : The committee has selected 

 for this forenoon's discussion a subject which, perhaps, is 

 the most interesting question to the horticulturists of this 

 section. While we have good growers of the strawberry in 

 many parts of the State, while we may claim to grow as 

 good fruits of that kind as any State in the Union, it still is 

 desirable to rub up against men from other portions of the 

 country. They may have some new method, as they are 

 constantly changing, that would be of benefit to the practical 

 growers in this vicinity ; and your committee has invited a 

 man of large experience in the growing of small fruits, and 

 a practical man, to address you this morning on the subject 

 of small fruits. I have the pleasure of introducing to you 

 Mr. W. F. Taber, president of the Eastern New York Hor- 

 ticultural Society, who will address you on that subject. 



Mr. Taber. Ladies and gentlemen : As I looked out this 

 morning and saw the sun shining over the eastern hills, I 

 thought of the contrast and of the changes which had taken 

 place since, about one hundred and fifty years ago, the 

 Quakers, of whom I am a representative, were driven out of 

 Massachusetts to take refuge where my ancestors took refuge, 

 — in the State of New York. Received as I have been in 

 this community, there certainly is a great change. Perhaps 

 it is partly due to my ancestors having located upon land 

 adjoining the Connecticut line and my having received an 

 education partly in Litchfield. I have also taught school in 

 Connecticut. There is no line that divides us. We are 

 brethren. We meet here this morning to discuss a subject 



