STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 27 



We are proud to say this to 3011, brethren of the Maine State 

 Pomological Society. We are proud to ascribe to 3'Ou honor for the 

 name and fame of our Maine apple industry whose line has gone out 

 through all the earth, 3'ea, even to the ends thereof. We are glad 

 to say to you that your interests are ours — interests that the labors 

 3'OU perform in 30ur meetings, and the thoughts 3'Ou bring forward, 

 bear their fruit all over this broad State, in better apples, more and 

 more acceptable to the world at large, which has already learned that 

 the apples of Maine are firmer, more highl3' flavored, and better 

 keepers, than those grown in a milder climate on richer soil. We 

 are told in our geographies and our children are taught in our schools, 

 that the exports of Maine are hay, lumber and ice. It is time that 

 apples were added to the list. Indeed during the past 3'ear I have 

 taken pains to bring this fact to the minds of both teachers and pupils. 

 In fruit culture, I believe that Maine is 3'et in her swaddling bands ; 

 our eyes have been closed and our ears have been stopped. We 

 have not realized our capabilities nor our resources, but of these 

 things I trust we shall hear later. We realize that it is to such men 

 as 3'OU that we are indebted for the transformation of the stunted, 

 inedible crab to such varieties as the blushing, luscious Baldwin, the 

 golden Pippin and the delicate Bellflower. 



We do not welcome you to-da3^ to a town entirely new in the art 

 and science of fruit culture ; on the contrary we have not a few names 

 among us whose successes and achievements in this line are well 

 known to 3'ou. To them we commend 3'ou ; for even as a diamond 

 can onl3- be polished b3' its own dust, so will 3'our work be rendered 

 more peifect by the co-operation of the men who are working in the 

 orchards and gardens of ever3' section of the State. So we welcome 

 3'ou to Turner, knowing that if we had no higher motive for our hos- 

 pitality than a selfish one. we should be amph' repaid b3' the good 

 things you will bring us out of your storehouse of wisdom. We have 

 not been left in doubt as to the origin of fruit. We find that the 

 Creator gave to Adam, in the garden, trees good for food, trees 

 yielding fruit, and that these were not put in as an afterthought of 

 creation, but were placed upon the earth the third da3'. And if, as 

 we believe, the troubles of man began with that fruit, we can console 

 ourselves with the thought of this meeting, and of many other similar 

 assemblies, where much good has been added to the aggregate of 

 man's life from this same source. 



