76 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Some were present who could remember the time when there 

 was not an agricultural or horticultural paper, nor a book on fruit 

 culture, published on this continent ; when the first horticultural 

 society was established, fifty years ago; when nurseries were few, 

 our fruits mostly of foreign origin, the supply scanty, the demand 

 limited. 



Many were cognizant of, or participated in the formation of 

 the American Pomological Society, twenty-five years ago ; had 

 oljserved the indefatigable labors of its members, the wonderful 

 progress made, the beneficial results secured, until now the coun- 

 try is flooded with books, newspapers and periodicals devoted 

 wholly or partly to the dissemination of pomological knowledge. 

 Nurseries are everywhere abundant; new varieties of the diff'ei'ent 

 fruits are constantly tested, approved, recommended and culti- 

 vated, or if found lacking desirable qualities are promptly rejected, 

 and all regions of our widely extended domain vie with each other 

 in honorable rivalry, to ascertain and cultivate the best fruit for 

 home use, for the market, for exportation, — the supply ever keep- 

 ing pace with the ever increasing demand. 



*" But who can adequately, even estimate the progress of our 

 art, the importance of this industry to our nation? Whose pro- 

 phetic eye can survey the grand expanse which is to open on our 

 course during the next twenty-five j^ears? Ere that time shall have 

 arrived, much of the unoccupied territory of our country, now 

 greater in extent than that of all our present States, will by the 

 aid fcf our trans-continental railroads be opened to cultivation, and 

 Columbia River, Puget Sound, and the whole Pacific coast, with 

 its untold treasures, be united with us in the great work of pro- 

 moting the pomology of this land. ***** 



"(iive us twenty-five years more, and from ocean to ocean, from 

 the Dominion to the Gulf, our hill-sides shall be clad with the vine, 

 our great valleys adorned with orchards and gardens, and the fig, 

 olive and orange of the South and Pacific shores shall rival those 

 of exotic growth. Give us twenty -five years more, and our cata- 

 logue of fruits shall be filled with native varieties, dodic;ited to 

 American poraologists, who by their labors and benevolent efi'orts 

 have contributed to the wealth of our country and the happiness 

 of its people. But to accomplish this most desirable result, and 

 to fulfill our mission of supplying every section of our country 

 with fruits suited to its own locality, we must rely mainly on those 

 originated on American soil. ****** 



"From past experience it seems probable that the deterioration 

 of certain varieties of fruits will exist in the future as in the past, 

 and that the same causes, whether from the removal of the forests 

 or from whatever circumstances, will still continue, llence, the 



* President Wilder's Address. 



