"Well," he said, "first of all, you have got to know more than the dog." Perhaps that's the case with some of us and the fish. Anyway, we didn't catch any fish.
I don't care to say any more, except, Mr. Gant, to express our appreciation to you for the excellent facilities which you have furnished.
President Davidson: Thank you, Dr. MacDaniels.
I believe the next order is the little talk by myself.
President's Address
JOHN DAVIDSON, Xenia, Ohio
When I was notified that this Association, in session at Guelph, had named me as its president, I was surprised and deeply honored. I suppose there is not a single member of this body who does not have the feeling that the Northern Nut Growers Association is "different," unique, and, very special: Here are all kinds: scientists and rule-of-thumb planters, experienced professionals and inexperienced amateurs, conservationists and hobbyists, all bent on one objective—to enlighten Americans and themselves on the values and opportunities that lie in the study and practice of planting forest trees which bear crops—specifically, nuts.
But the interest of most of our members is rather broader than our name would indicate. Forest crops, not merely nuts, are the logical outgrowth in interest that such an organization as ours stimulates. Dr. Zimmerman's work with papaws is a case in point. Mr. Wilkinson's work with the Lamb curly walnut is another. The persimmon, the papaw, the mulberry, the haws, the juneberries—you are likely to find them all, sooner or later, among the nut trees of our members. You will hear presently about a wood from one of our nut trees that is so valuable, and so possible to grow, that we may presently be planting for extraordinarily beautiful and valuable timber.
Patience is what it takes, and faith. Trees are an example to us. If we could only look at the procession of the centuries with the eyes of the sequoias, we should see creation moving on marvelously with magnificent fruitfulness, and we should take courage.
Has the process of evolution been more successful with plants than with the human race? Should benevolent creation fail at its highest point? Certainly it should not. Nevertheless it certainly will fail there so long as so large a body of the race is undernourished, ill-born, hopelessly submerged—dragging downward rather than lifting upward.