ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the American Pomological Society : * 



The official position in which your suffrages have 

 placed me, renders it my duty to address you at this 

 time. Were I to consult my own inclination, I should 

 listen with great pleasure to some of the distinguished 

 cultivators whom I see around me, and whose scientific 

 attainments and practical knowledge well quolif}^ them 

 for this service. But in the discharge of this trust, I 

 am inspired with the hope that you will indulge me in 

 the privilege of sharing in your discussions, and in the 

 treasures of your ripe experience. 



Amidst the rapid strides of the arts and sciences in 

 our time, it is gratifying to know that Pomology has not 

 been stationary. Few subjects exhibit so remarkably 

 the progress of civilization and improvement as the culti- 

 vation of fruit. It is now only about a quarter of a 

 century since the establishment of the oldest horticultu- 

 ral society in America. Then, these associations were 



* The Annual Address before the Norfolk Agricultural Society was 

 delivered by Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr., but as he was disinclined to have it 

 published, the Trustees, at a regular meeting, unanimously passed a vote 

 requesting their President to permit the publication, in lieu of it, of this 

 ddress, delivered about the same time, before the National Pomological So- 

 ciety, at Rochester, New York, which request was complied with on the 

 part of the author. 



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