34 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Annual Address of the President. 

 President Gilbert then addressed the Society as follows : 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — Members and Friends of the 



Maine State Pomological Society: 



In obedience to 3'our call I again address you upon topics re- 

 lating to the success of our youthful Society. Another year with 

 its results has been folded into the past, and we, mindful of the 

 lessons it has taught us, and looking ai'ound for the results which 

 it has brought, again buckle ou our armor, and with strength re- 

 newed from the efforts of the past and courage ever hopeful iu 

 view of the broad fields of active life ever open before us, enter 

 again into our labors in the full assurance that as they are faith- 

 fully performed so will they in due time be rewarded. Such is 

 life, — ever hopeful, ever laboring. Is that labor always faithful? 



What, then, are we as a Society endeavoring to accomplish ? 

 It cannot be charged that it is self-aggrandizement or personal 

 emoluments, for the history of nearly all societies having similar 

 and related purposes has proved that such results are not often 

 attained and need not be expected. There is, however, in all 

 communities, and especially in our own State, a call for efforts 

 looking to the promotion of pomology, and of horticulture in gen- 

 eral. Into these labors we as a Society have entered. However 

 self-sacrificing these labors may be, the field stretches away before 

 us and calls us to its work. It is a duty we owe to the com- 

 munity in which we live that we respond to this call. Public 

 spirit is a quality which every one should feel himself in duty 

 bound to cultivate. No one has a right to complacently fold his 

 arms and leave the work of driving on the march of progress 

 wholly to other hands. As another has truthfully said, "Every 

 man should look out upon the community in which he is living 

 and ask himself what he can do for its improvement." Were not 

 such efforts put forth and continually kept up in the moral and 

 social world we should soon relapse into barbarism. So too, in 

 the world of the beautiful around us efforts are needed, and ex- 

 ample is contagious. Look at the noble, self-sacrificing labors of 

 those who have been instrumental in surrounding our houses with 

 much that contributes to our happiness in life. Have not their 

 labors received a compensation in the blessings we are now enjoy- 

 ing ? And shall not we continue those labors, that others may 

 receive like benefits ? 



