president's address. 75 



President, $3 per day for the time spent in the service of the So- 

 ciety. 



Treasurer, no salary or allowance for transportation or per diem. 



Superintendents, $3 per day while in the service of the Society. 



Regarding the salary question, I think that, since the Society has 

 districted the state, and elected directors from each district, arrange- 

 ments should be made to pay the traveling expenses of the directors 

 to the annual winter meeting. This would place the directors under 

 obligations to the Society to the extent that we would have the right 

 to expect a full and complete report of the condition of horticulture 

 in each district from the director. No one who has not attempted 

 the gathering of the statistics has any idea of the meager reports that 

 are secured by any of the plans now feasible. Someone should be re- 

 sponsible to the Society for the gathering of such information, and 

 presenting it to the Society in such a form that it can be printed in 

 the report, and thus be at hand for ready reference. No director 

 should be continued in office who does not thus supply a full report. 



Another matter, about which I think this Society should be mak- 

 ing a start, is the establishing of experiment stations for the testing 

 of new varieties of fruits and plants as they come out, as well as for 

 making careful reports on older sorts. Eventually there should be 

 about a dozen such stations, but at present probably four or five are 

 as many as we should undertake. The Society should set aside — -say 

 $100 — for the purchase of promising stock, under the supervision of 

 the Executive Committee. This should then be sent to the various 

 stations, having regard to the varieties adapted to the conditions at 

 the station. Only men who are believed to be permanently located 

 should be elected as station directors, since, in many cases, the results 

 would not be apparent for some years. I would recommend that the 

 appointments be made by the Executive Committee, for the reason 

 that it may take months to find the right man in some of the sections 

 where horticulturists are few and far between. 



The summer meetings of the Society, held during the past two 

 years, have been very profitable, and I think should be continued. I 

 am of the opinion that the annual meeting should be held at Lincoln 

 only during the alternate winters, when the Legislature is in session ; 

 at other times being held at various cities throughout the state. I 

 have not been able to settle, to my satisfaction, whether or not we 



