secretary has held the office every year except in 1918 and
1919, during military service, when Mr. Bixby took his place.

From an educational and scientific standpoint I think the association
may be said to have fulfilled creditably its original declaration of
purpose, "the promotion of interest in nut-bearing plants, their
products and their culture." Many choice nuts have been brought to
notice and perpetuated. The establishment of nurseries where grafted nut
trees of choice varieties may be obtained has been encouraged. The art
of grafting and propagating nut trees has been brought to a high degree
of success by members of the association. Experimental orchards, both of
transplanted nursery trees and of topworked native trees, have been
established in widely separated parts of the country.

Acting on the suggestion and request of members of the association, Mr.
Olcott established the American Nut Journal, one of the most important
of our accomplishments. Finally, and perhaps best of all, a number of
horticultural institutions have taken up seriously the study of nut
culture and the planting of experimental orchards. Testimony to this
will be found in letters to be read by the secretary and in the presence
on our program today of representatives of several horticultural and
other institutions of learning. I believe that the association can take
credit to itself for having, by its publications and other means of
influence, in large degree brought about this interest and action.

As for any commercial success in nut-growing, brought about by our
activities, when we compare nut-growing in our field with pecan-growing
in the South, and with walnut, almond, and perhaps filbert-growing, on
the Pacific Coast, our results are meagre indeed. Of course commercial
production, the building of a new industry of food supply for the
people, is our ultimate goal. Why are our results in this direction,
after fourteen years of effort, so small? Is it because we have devoted
ourselves too exclusively to the scientific and educational aspects of
our problems and neglected, either from over-cautiousness or from
inertia, to encourage commercial plantings? There are some of our
members who think that we have. They say that we should have been
bolder in assuring people of success to be attained in nut tree
planting.

As for me I do not think that we have been too cautious. We who are so
accused, can point to the disastrous results of fo