hip in writing at least thirty days
prior to that meeting.

Proceedings

44th Annual Meeting

Northern Nut Growers Association

Rochester, New York

August 31--September 1, 1953

MONDAY MORNING SESSION

PRESIDENT BEST: We are opening this 44th Annual Meeting of the Northern
Nut Growers Association with this historic gavel which was made from
wood grown in the Thomas Littlepage pecan grove near Washington, D. C.
Opening each session with this gavel has been a custom of this
organization for many, many years.

We are very anxious to have you folks meet some of the men who have made
our meeting possible here at Rochester. I would first like to introduce
Mr. W. Stephen Thomas, Director of the Rochester Museum of Arts and
Sciences. Mr. Thomas.

MR. THOMAS: Thank you, Mr. Best.

We are always glad to welcome groups such as yours. You represent a
unique organization to us with interests not in our field. We are a
public institution, and are glad to have you here.

I feel there are many things of interest in this museum and in our
program to interest you, because you are horticulturists and people
interested in the out-of-doors.

This museum is owned by the City of Rochester. By the way, there are
only about 12 museums throughout the country that are supported as we
are. We get 98 per cent of our funds from the City of Rochester. It is
not endowed. It is the people's museum. In the exhibit upstairs are
three dimensional models showing the evolution of the Genesee Valley in
New York from early times to the present. Here you will see a beautiful
panorama of what it looked like two hundred million years ago right
where we are sitting and standing now when the seas overlay the area
during the Devonian and Silurian times. We have reconstructed the little
sea creatures that lived in the rocks in their natural colors.

Another exhibit is the Indian story, primitive man, not just before the
white man came, but going back 1500 years. On the top floor you may see
how the pioneer man worked here as a woodcutter and running flour mills
and how the city came about. The whole story of our region is in the
museum.

But more important than these exhibits is what we do through the
educational system; adult lectures, and so forth. That is just a little
background of our work. I know you have your important business at hand,
but I hope you will have a little time to view the exhibits. We want to
help you in any way we