THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
19 
Doings of Societies 
MICHIGAN STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
Twenty years from now the members of the Michigan 
State Horticultural Society may be listening to successful 
fruit growers whose interest in their State Society was 
aroused in their college days. If this happens it will be due 
to the excellent method which is being inaugurated by this 
Society to stimulate the enthusiasm of the coming horticul¬ 
turists of the state. This is by conducting at their annual 
meetings competitive five-minute talks by Senior horticul¬ 
tural students of the Michigan Agricultural College, with 
prizes of $15, $10, and $5. 
According to the attractive program for the 1910 meet¬ 
ing, recently received at this office, there were eight candi¬ 
dates for first honors on this occasion. The annual meeting 
was held in Benton Harbor, Michigan, December 6, 7, and 8, 
the Berrien County Horticultural Society being host for the 
third time in seven years. 
There were seven sessions, including the annual banquet 
at the Armory, with Hon. Chas. W. Garfield, as toastmaster. 
Among the speakers at most of the sessions was one of the 
staff of the Michigan Agricultural College, and Prof. M. B. 
Waite of the U. S. Department of Agriculture gave two 
addresses. Beside this, several of the fruit growers of the 
state gave accounts of their successes of the past year. The 
exhibits of fruit and flowers were not the least important 
feature of the convention, and awards included a B. G. 
Pratt scalecide cup, spraying apparatus from several 
manufacturing and chemical companies, nursery stock, and 
yearly subscriptions to some of the well known horticultural 
papers. 
OREGON STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
The twenty-fifth annual meeting and quarter-centennial 
celebration of the Oregon State Horticultural Society took 
place, November 30, December i and 2, in Portland, 
Oregon, Two floors were used for the exhibits, and a 
separate one for the program. The feature of the conven¬ 
tion was the anniversary session, held on the afternoon of the 
last day. The program for this session included a “Histori¬ 
cal Sketch of the Society,” by George H. Himes, of the 
Oregon Horticultural Society, Portland; an account of 
“Twenty-five Years of the Nursery Business in Oregon,” by 
J. H. Settlemeier, Woodburn; and five minute talks by a 
score or so of the members of the Society, 
MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
This is one of the older state horticultural societies, 
having held its forty-fourth annual meeting on December 6, 
7, 8, and 9, 1910. Several other societies having similar 
interests met with this Society, and took part on the pro¬ 
gram, the president of each society in turn being in the 
chair at some time during the various sessions. The papers 
in general were limited to ten minutes. In nearly every 
session a half-hour was devoted to questions and answers on 
topics arranged beforehand; and a number of lantern-slide 
talks added interest to the meetings. Under the standing 
offer of this Society for seedling apples, a sum has been set 
aside providing $100 annually for seven years beginning in 
1912, for the best late winter seedling apple. 
KANSAS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
Like the Minnesota Horticultural Society, this associa¬ 
tion held its forty-fourth annual meeting during the closing 
days of the year 1910. The sessions occupied parts of 
three days, and were held in the State Capitol. The ses¬ 
sions during the day time were largely taken up with reports 
of officers and committees, allowing for only a small number 
of addresses; but for the evenings, programs of 
illustrated lectures had been prepared. Among 'the 
speakers were: J. M. Irvine, editor of the St. Joseph Fruit 
Grower, and H. P. Gould, pomologist of the U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. The exhibits of this society are not 
competitive, but every exhibit of merit receives an award. 
APPLE CONGRESS MEETS AT DENVER 
The First American Apple Congress, which met in Den¬ 
ver, December 15-17, took the place of the national apple 
show of the previous year. The purpose of the convention 
was to establish a permanent organization, such as the 
Spokane National Apple Show. Governor John F. Shaf- 
roth of Colorado, in his official call, gave a full explanation 
of the congress, noting the vast importance of the apple 
industry in many states of the Union, and the desirability of 
having uniform methods of dealing with the varied problems 
of constant recurrence in connection with this industry. 
Delegates were appointed from Colorado towns in propor¬ 
tion to their population, each fruit trade journal, fruit com¬ 
pany, and fruit growers’ association had delegates, and 
numerous others were designated by the Governor. The 
governors of other apple producing states were requested to 
have delegates appointed in a similar way. A temporary 
executive committee was authorized to make such arrange¬ 
ments as to assure the success of this first national apple 
congress. M. N. Batles, of Pueblo, was elected president 
of the Congress for the ensuing year. 
VIRGINIA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
This comparatively young society will hold its fifteenth 
annual meeting in southwestern Virginia, at Roanoke, 
January nth to 13th, the last day being devoted to an 
excursion to Blacksburg, where the State Experiment 
Station is located. The program for the first two days is 
full of interesting subjects, and among the speakers are 
H. W. Collingwood, editor of The Rural New Yorker, and 
J. M. Irvine, editor of The Fruit Grower. Spraying matters 
will be presented by Dr. M. B. Waite and Prof. W. M. Scott, 
both of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Among the other 
speakers are Edward Van Alsteyne of Kinderhook, N. Y., 
on apple orchards, and Prof. G. W. Cavanaugh of Cornell 
University, on fertilizers. The competitive fruit exhibit 
includes several classes of apples, and one class each of 
vegetables, nuts, and other fruits. The judge of this 
exhibit is Prof. H. E. Van Deman. 
