62 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
as “Dr.” Bliss, but was much interested in horticulture. He was appointed 
a delegate to this convention from the Hampden Co., Mass. Horticultural 
Society, and is living in Boston now. I tried to induce him to come here but 
he wrote me a rather non committal letter and he has not come. Then there 
was H. W. S. Cleveland, of Burlington, N. J., who, like myself, originated in 
Salem, Mass., but was engaged in fruit growing in New Jersey. He after- 
wards went to Chicago and then to Minneapolis, where he carried on the 
business of a landscape gardener. I think he is still living, as I would have 
been sure to hear of his departure because he has friends in Salem. Then 
there was Frederick Law Olmsted, who was present at our first meeting 
and afterwards became eminent as a landscape gardener. Another of the 
original members was Peter B. Mead, who, I understand, is still living and 
whom I met a few years ago. He was an active worker in the arrangements 
for the first meeting. He should have been here today, but possibly physical 
infirmity has deprived him of that pleasure. 
When the time came for the convention to come together Mr. Wilder pre- 
vailed upon me to go to it with him. I was perhaps the youngest member 
there. My father, at his death, left the largest collection of fruit trees then 
in the United States and, although but a boy of fifteen, I had to take up 
his work and carry it on as well as I could, so that I was brought directly 
into contact with Mr. Wilder and the other eminent horticulturists of the 
time. When we came to New York one of the first things done was the 
appointment of a special committee to prepare a list of Fruits For General 
Cultivation. A. J. Downing was chairman and Dr. Brinckle was a member 
of the committee, of which I was also a member. That was the foundation 
of this Catalogue, which has grown to the magnitude in which you see it here 
today. While Mr. Wilder lived he was desirous to have me come to all the 
meetings, and, when he departed, I said to myself “I don’t think I can ever 
go to another,” but, upon reflecting that this was the fiftieth anniversary 
of the Society, I thought I would “dig out” once more. As I look around here 
I notice a considerable difference between things then and now. What 
impresses me most is the character of the discussions. In the early days the 
points of discussion were confined almost wholly to the question of the value 
of the different varieties of fruit; at the present session we have nothing 
of that, but we have elaborate papers covering the whole field of horticulture. 
We cannot fail to notice how the experiment stations have come to the front. 
Formerly an experiment station was not thought of. Another thing that 
has impressed me is the pre-eminence which the Department of Agriculture 
has attained. I recollect the presence of the Commissioner of Agriculture at 
some one of the early meetings and his making a speech, which consisted 
largely of generalities, an assurance of how very glad he was of the co-opera- 
tion of the Society and all that sort of thing. Today we are glad to meet 
here the heads of Divisions in the Department of Agriculture, who have 
something valuable to say and who are among the pioneers in scientific 
investigation. Certainly there has been a great advance in this respect. You 
can judge, from what I have said, of the difference between then and now; 
and I do not doubt that another fifty years will bring an equally great 
advance. 
I may perhaps be indulged with a personal word. I spoke of my father’s 
collection of fruit. He was one of the founder^ of the Massachusetts Hor- 
ticultural Society. He presented to the Society some half a dozen books, 
which formed the nucleus of the library of that Society, of which I now have- 
