STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 17 



In this connection honorable mention should be made of the 

 Hon. S. L. Goodale, foi'mer Secretary of the Board of Agriculture, a 

 pomologist by birth and education, who has for the last thirty 

 years labored zealously for the promotion of this interest. His 

 valuable papers on the subject, published in the reports of the 

 Board, are among the best pomological literature of the present 

 day, and have contributed to render those reports of incalculable 

 value to the people of the State. It is to be regretted that at the 

 organization of this society he was unwilling to accept the office 

 of Secretary, for which he is so well fitted. That which to him 

 would have been an easy labor, and to the public a valuable ser- 

 vice, is to a novice a laborious duty. 



It is not intended by the remarks previously made, to intimate 

 that there has been a diminution in the fruit product of the State ; 

 for, in fact, the reverse is true. The census returns, which fur- 

 nish the best data available, show a large increase from 1860 to 

 1870, not only in the gross product, but in proportion to the area 

 of improved land and the population ; but that increase is chiefly 

 in the product of the large orchards which were planted in previ- 

 ous years, and being based on the value of the crop, is not con- 

 clusive as to the quantity. Our remarks apply rather to the lack 

 of popular interest in Pomology as an art and a science. 



The annexed table, based upon the census returns of 1870, will 

 show that while Maine occupies an advanced position as a fruit 

 producing state, with reference to the average of the whole coun- 

 try, she is far behind the first rank, being the fifteenth among the 

 states and territories in the value of her orchard products per 

 acre of improved land, and the sixteenth in the value of the same 

 product per capita to each inhabitant. 



