I know it is an expensive proposition to index things of that kind; it takes time and a lot of patience. Not only that but it must be done by some one whose heart is in the work and who recognizes the problems that the man who is going to use that index is going to look up. But I do think that if it could be put in to a combined volume, and some sort of an effort made by the various vice presidents in the different sections to see the institutions in their own sections who would be interested, that something might be accomplished which would be of real worth. I believe this would be increasingly so in the future, because those people will want to look back ten, fifteen, twenty years, and see what the others went through. One of the biggest things that I think I did in our classes was to point out the problems that occurred in California ten, fifteen, twenty-five and thirty years ago, along the line of nut culture solely, and then point out where the nut growers succeeded.
And if I may just branch off here to one of the things I haven't spoken about before this evening, I am absolutely against planting seedling trees unless there is a very strong emphasis laid on the fact that they are not for commercial purposes and not for planting in orchards, but are simply and solely for the possibility of developing new varieties. I think that growers are going to want to go back over old reports in order to save covering the same ground twice. We have found our new people in California starting right in where people started fifty years ago because they didn't know what happened fifty years ago, because our reports out there were not properly indexed.
MR. WEBER: Mr. President, in order to bring the matter to a head, I move that the distribution of the old reports, by sale or otherwise, be left to the discretion of the executive committee.
(Seconded and carried.)
MR. OLCOTT: Mr. President, I would like to ask what the condition of the treasury is. I do so for this reason, that we have planned out a good deal to be done during the interim, from now to the next convention, and the secretary's office ought to be busy. We are planning upon making it so to keep up interest.
I think that the secretary shouldn't be handicapped by lack of funds for stationery and things of that kind. I think that with a deficit maybe he has been. Maybe more matter would go out if he had funds and to that end I am putting in my check for $20 for my subscription tonight in advance. If others will do that he will have funds to work with. (Applause)
THE PRESIDENT: In a discussion I had with the treasurer and the secretary before this evening's session we considered that point, Mr. Olcott, and I thought that we would go after the remaining deficit tonight and make it up, start off with a clean sheet. Mr. Bixby said that if we were going to enter into this new membership campaign in a really generous spirit, he felt that the matter of the remaining deficit should be taken care of.
MR. BIXBY: If we can get two hundred new members this year that will take care of it.
THE PRESIDENT: Two hundred are already pledged.
MR. BIXBY: If we get them that will take care of it.