FLORIDA ,STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
23 
are marketed by carloads and trainloads. 
Think of our out-put of 45 or 50 thou¬ 
sand carloads of citrus fruits from the 
Gulf and the Pacific, 'trainloads of 
peaches from the orchards of Georgia, 
Texas, Michigan and Ohio, of strawber¬ 
ries from the Atlantic seaboard, of ap¬ 
ples from Colorado, New York and Ore¬ 
gon, of grapes from California, of pecans 
from the south and walnuts from the 
west. Truly these many strangers from 
many lands, the offspring of world-old 
races have amply repaid the care and at¬ 
tention they have received at our hands. 
Millions are invested in this branch of 
culture, vast auxiliary industries have 
sprung up and are dependent upon the 
fruit crops of the country. Think of the 
immense amount of labor employed in 
healthful occupation, of the great reve¬ 
nues gained by transportation companies, 
of the large amounts of wood, iron and 
paper used in packing and preparation 
for market; and we gain some slight idea 
of what fruit growing means to the coun¬ 
try as a whole. 
In no other land is fruit so abundant, 
in no other is it so cheap. Here it is 
within reach of even the very poor. More 
and more our domestic output has sup¬ 
plied our needs, and in proportion to the 
amount consumed, our imports in many 
directions have fallen off materially. We 
have been able to build up an export trade 
of no mean proportions and our resources 
of soil and brain and brawn are by no 
means exhausted. There are greater de¬ 
velopments yet to come, and looking 
down the dim vistas of the future, who 
can say to what proportions the pomology 
of America may yet attain? 
How has all of this been attained? By 
what paths have we reached our present 
state? What forces have been at work, 
and who have been the workers ? It is 
not our purpose to attempt to answer 
these questions in detail, but I do desire 
to direct your attention to one particular 
individual, the amateur fruit grower. To 
him belongs a measure of honor, a meed 
of praise so full that had his work been 
performed in other avenues of life, his¬ 
tory would have told of his achievements, 
and monuments would have been raised 
to his memory,—but since his tasks have 
been performed in what we have mis¬ 
called the lowlier walks of life, there has 
been no poet to sing his praise. But, 
who is he? What is he? What has he 
done ? When some day the history of 
American fruit growing is written as I 
hope it may be, we shall learn more of 
him, and of what we owe to his efforts. 
If I were to define the amateur fruit 
grower, I could not do better than to 
paraphrase the words of Prof. Hale: “An 
amateur is a man who works in the field 
of horticulture because he cannot help it. 
Because he would rather do such work 
than anything else in the world. And, 
therefore, cares little for hampering tra¬ 
ditions or for difficulties of any kind.” 
The impelling force is sheer love of his 
work. No thought of largess is his, 
love of plants to him is his reward. 
To him we owe the major portion of 
our finest fruits. Interested in his chosen 
field, he has been ever quick to note varia¬ 
tions in the plants grown under his 
watchful eye. The superiority of one 
over another, or maybe over all others, 
has not passed unnoticed. When plants 
were brought from foreign lands, his was 
