President. In the Congressional Library at Washington City are many very beautiful and attractive inscriptions and quotations, one of which has always appealed to me as a lawyer, and I have repeated it many times:

Mr. President, I have noted very many times that the voice of the law is sometimes silent. It speaks only through those in authority and there should always be some emblem of authority. I therefore took the liberty, Mr. President, of having made for you a gavel from the wood of an Indiana pecan tree, where as a youth I lived and learned of this most delicious of all the nuts, and I take pleasure in presenting it to you, and if anyone doubts the hardiness or hardness of the Indiana pecan, I authorize you to demonstrate both.

I am presenting you duplicate gavels, Mr. President, one of which I desire to have you turn over to your successor in office as an official emblem of his authority, to be used at future meetings; the other I am presenting to you as a personal tribute for your most excellent work in behalf of northern nut culture. This gavel I shall ask you to place among the trophies in your beautiful mountain home, where the birds sing sweetly, the sun shines brightly, and the breezes murmur softly; and where the days are made to rest and the nights are made to sleep.

The President: Mr. Littlepage, not being prepared for this, and not being naturally eloquent, I am unable to make a speech. However, as a part of the way out of the difficulty, I accept this one officially with great pleasure, and personally accept the other with deep gratitude, and desire to express the appreciation of the meeting.

The pecan is calling the walnut meeting to order. Last year we went to see the pecan; this year we come to see the walnut, which, has done more than any other nut in the East.

We will now listen to the report of our secretary-treasurer.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-TREASURER

This is the best financial report that the treasurer has ever been able to transmit, and this is chiefly due to the efforts of our president who, during the year, has sent out numerous notices of, and articles about, our Association, its purposes, and the desirability of finding and propagating our best nut trees. He also offered three prizes of $5 each for a nut contest and did the work necessary to get publicity for this contest. He sent letters to the members of the horticultural societies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio which resulted in our getting 24 new members, mostly from the state of Pennsylvania. Twenty-five dollars of the cost of this circularizing the president paid out of his own pocket. The rest was more than made up by the fees of new members. The president also had printed an educational leaflet on nut growing for distribution by Mr. Cobb with the nut trees which he sends to the schools and farmers of Michigan. With Professor Close he was on the finance committee which sent a circular letter to the members of the Association for funds to help pay for the printing of the annual report, and obtained advertisements for the report. As stated in the treasurer's report contributions for this purpose amounted to $42.50 and advertisements brought in $42.00.

Prizes

The Association offered last year prizes of $5 each for the best shagbark hickory nut, black walnut and hazel nut sent in.

Something over a hundred specimens were received and the prize for hickory nut was awarded to J. K. Triplett of Elkins, W. Va. The prize for black walnut was awarded to J. G. Rush of West Willow, Pa. Mr. Rush returned his prize to be used for the purposes of the Association. No prize for hazels was awarded as only one or two insignificant specimens were sent in.

Perhaps the stimulation of this contest accounts for our being able to offer such substantial prizes for this year. In addition to the $80 worth of prizes already announced the secretary has received from a life member, James H. Bowditch of Boston, a check for $25 as a prize to be offered by the Association for a hickory nut under such conditions as the Association may decide. A circular announcing these prizes has been sent out to agricultural and other papers to the number of 200, the expenses of which have been borne by another member, Mr. Chas. H. Plump of Connecticut. A committee on competitions should be appointed or the direction of them delegated to some already existent committee.

Membership

Seventy-four members were added during the interval between this meeting and the last, one less than in the previous year. Since its organization 287 persons have joined the Association. We have at present 153 paid up members, 21 more than last year. There are a few members whose dues are unpaid who are active workers and will eventually pay, probably.

Four members have resigned, though none in anger, and we have lost one by death, the late Prof. H. E. Van Deman.

Annual Dues

Some way should be found out of the difficulties arising from the dissatisfaction of members who join late in the year when they receive a notice for dues soon after having once paid.

It is desirable to take in members at all times during the year. At the same time some method should be found to give the late comer something for his money. Shall membership continue to date from the calendar year? Or shall we make some change? Some societies date memberships from the opening of the annual meeting. It would not be impossible to make memberships date from the