24 



present generation, and become a standard in pomology 

 with those who shall come after us. 



I anticipate that at no remote period we shall feel the 

 necessity of a National Pomological Institute, with an 

 Experimental Garden, where all the varieties true to 

 name may be obtained, where all sorts may be thorough- 

 ly tested and distributed to the members of the society, 

 and thus relieve the pioneers in American pomology from 

 large expenditures and much personal inconvenience. 



But I must not trespass further upon your indulgence. 

 Yet I should not do justice to my own sense of propriety 

 did I not signify to you my earnest desire to be relieved 

 from the responsibilities devolving upon me as your pre- 

 siding officer. These, by the aid of your fraternal coun- 

 sel and cooperation, I have cheerfully sustained for six 

 years, yielding my own convenience to your expressed 

 wishes. I beg, however, to assure you that, whatever 

 may be my future relation to you, it will ever be my 

 endeavor to promote your individual happiness, and the 

 welfare of this association. 



Gentlemen of Rochester and Vicinity: — 



We have come up here not merely to gratify our 

 curiosity, or to share your hospitality, but to witness your 

 improvement, and to be instructed by your experience. 

 How astonishing your progress ! Within the recollection 

 of some who now hear me, this thriving city had scarcely 

 a beginning. The surrounding territory was then what 

 we of New England regarded as the Great West, which 

 has since journeyed on, and is stayed only by the rolling 

 waters of the Pacific. From a reliable source I learn 

 that the first nursery in this vicinity was begun in the 

 year 1833. As late as 1840, there were only two small 

 nurseries in Rochester, of about ten acres each, with 



