Proceedinsfs of the Winter Meeting. 



The annual "Winter Meeting of the Society was held in the hall of 

 the Turner Center Grange at Turner, on Wednesday' and Thursday, 

 February 17th and 18th, 188G. The forenoon was occupied b}' a 

 business meeting of the Society. At this meeting the annual reports 

 of the Secretary and Treasurer were presented, accepted and placed 

 on file. The election of officers for the ensuing j'ear also took 

 place. The Treasurer's statement and the names of officers elected 

 will be found in other parts of the report. There was a ver^' credit- 

 able displa}' of winter varieties of apples ; and in the material pre- 

 sented for consideration, the numbers in attendance, and the spirit 

 and interest of the meeting, it was one of the best the Society- has 

 ever held. 



FIRST DAY. AFTERNOON. 



The Society met at 1.30 o'clock P. M., Vice President D. J. 

 Briggs in the chair. Dr. J. T. Gushing of Turner was tlien intro- 

 duced, who delivered the following Address of Welcome : 



ADDEESS OF WELCOME. 

 By Dr. J. T. Gushing. 

 Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Maine State Pomological 

 Society : — We are come together to-day, first to welcome you to the 

 hearts and homes of our town. You represent an organization we 

 are proud to have come among us — a company of men to whom the 

 State of Maine owes a debt of gratitude. If he is a benefactor to 

 the whole human race "who causes two blades of grass to grow 

 where onh' one grew before," what can we sa^' of a company of 

 men through whose efforts our hill-sides have blossomed as the rose, 

 and our storehouses and cellars have been filled to overflowing with 

 the fruits of the earth. 



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