To summarise, the association may feel that its purpose as originally stated, and never changed, "The Promotion of Interest in Nut Bearing Plants, their Products and their Culture," has been furthered consistently though results are slow. For the future we should work, 1. For a greater membership. 2. To stimulate interest in horticultural institutions, especially in nut breeding. 3. To give definite information that will encourage nut tree planting for profit by individuals. 4. To promote roadside, memorial and public place planting of nut trees. 5. To discover still more of our valuable native nut trees through our prize contests.
Mr. C. A. Reed has made a suggestion which I will lay before you and which may be considered at a later hour. He suggests that it might be better to have our conventions once in two years, every other one to be held in Washington.
This is so radical a proposal that it should have prolonged consideration before adoption.
The affairs of the association are not getting from the secretary the attention they deserve and he does not foresee better attention in the future. He wishes that some more active person could be found for the place and would be very glad to have the association elect another secretary.
The President: The secretary's report will be received and filed with the proceedings. Are there any remarks in connection therewith?
Personally, I wish to endorse emphatically what the secretary has said relative to Treasurer Bixby who has worked early and late and has promoted the affairs of this association to a very great degree. His work is along practical lines and brings results.
The secretary finds fault with himself. No member of the association endorses that particular phase of his paper because his work has been good, he has had the best interests of the association at heart at all times—that I personally know—and I sincerely hope that he may change his mind relative to his successor.
We will now listen to the report of Treasurer Bixby.