10 



few and feeble ; now they are numerous and influential, 

 extending from the British Provinces to the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and from ocean to ocean, — all working together 

 in harmony with each other, and aiding our association, 

 whose field is our national domain. Then the fruit crop 

 of the country was not deemed worthy of a place in our 

 national statistics ; now it exceeds thirty millions of dol- 

 lars annually, and is rapidly becoming one of the most 

 valuable and indispensable products of our Republic. 

 Then the sales of fruit trees were numbered by hundreds, 

 now by hundreds of thousands. Then choice fruit was a 

 luxury to be found only in the palace of the opulent ; 

 now it helps to furnish the table of the humble cottager, 

 and comparatively few are the hamlets which are with- 

 out their fruit tree or grape vine. 



It is only eight years since the organization of this 

 Pomological Society ; now kindred associations exist in 

 various districts and States, and are exerting a power- 

 ful and salutary influence. Their delegates and repre- 

 sentatives I am most happy to welcome to a participa- 

 tion in the privileges of this occasion. 



This improvement is full of promise, and encourages 

 us to greater perseverance. When we look back to the 

 days of Duhamel, Miller and Forsyth, we perceive that 

 we have made laudable progress. When we compare 

 those numerous splendid varieties which we have obtain- 

 ed with the limited catalogues of the first part of the 

 present century, we may well be proud of our actual 

 knowledge. From the days of Henry Fourth of France, 

 when his favorite Bon Chretien was almost the only good 

 pear ; from the time of Queen Elizabeth, who sent to Hol- 

 land to obtain lettuce for her royal table, down to the 

 present century, there has been a gradual advance, but in 

 our day it has indeed been astonishing, and still our 

 course is onward and upward. 



