Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting | Page 7

be more interested in the future. We have
one man on our staff who has for years been interested. Now that we
have two, we will be twice as interested. In the past, years ago, the
Endicotts probably pioneered in a new variety of nuts. Later on, the
Caspers and Gerardis and Whitfords and now the Oakes and Best
families are doing a lot of work in the propagation of new and better

varieties. We have a lot of areas in Illinois suitable for nut propagation,
with the Wabash, Illinois, and Mississippi rivers, and we have been
working with farm advisers and other groups to increase nut production
and now we have a new horticultural experimental station in the
southern part of the state. There is a lot of land suitable for that type of
production.
Out on the horticultural farm we have, I guess, several hundred
seedlings and varieties of nuts which you will probably see. I hope your
stay here will be a lot of fun as well as profitable.
DR. CRANE: It is a great pleasure for me, and I know from the
expression that I have had from those with whom I have talked, also for
the members of the Northern Nut Growers Association who are here to
be able to meet in Urbana as guests of the University of Illinois. As a
matter of fact, we have tried and wanted to come out here for quite a
long while, but we didn't have a good invitation and we are glad to
accept--here we are!
The members of the Northern Nut Growers Association are all good
people and they are very much interested in nut growing, not so much
from the standpoint of making a fabulous income and being able to
retire on an unlimited bank account on ten acres of land in nut trees, but
they get a lot of pleasure out of fooling with them as a hobby, and in
order that they might more or less through their trees respond under
God's loving care.
This is the 42nd annual meeting of the Northern Nut Growers
Association, so it is no longer a baby. It is growing up. I don't know
what the membership is at the present time. The secretary is going to
tell us what the membership is this afternoon. It has gotten to be quite a
sizable organization. We welcome the opportunity of coming out here
to Illinois to see some of the nut orchards and nut trees in this great
state, particularly pecans, although we do see quite a lot of hickories
and also walnuts.
We certainly thank you, Dr. Birkeland, for your welcome and I know
that our pleasure here is going to be unlimited. We thank you.

DR. ROHRBACHER: Thank you, Dr. Crane. We had them bring up
some water to take care of our whistles.
At this time I'd like to present our address.

President's Address
I want to say it is a real privilege and pleasure for me to visit with you
today and to have the honor of serving as your president for the past
year. I have always been impressed with the enthusiasm and optimism
of this group. You know enthusiasm and optimism are highly
contagious, and I look forward each year with great anticipation to my
regular inoculation.
It is particularly fitting that we assemble here with a common goal and
purpose and also with the common knowledge that there is much work
to be done. This society, which was formed 42 years ago, has enjoyed
great progress and I wish to commend the men who had the vision to
conceive this association and nurture it to manhood. Their
accomplishments were indeed fruitful. However, there is still room and
need for a program of expansion. It is our responsibility and obligation
to see that this growth continues. The rings of growth on a tree trunk
push outward and continually expand and grow--so must our
association. Sometimes we become so deeply engrossed in what we are
doing or trying to do that it is advisable to back up and take a broadside
view of our objectives and purpose. In other words, we sometimes
cannot see the forest for the trees.
I should like at this time to review the real intent and purpose of the
Northern Nutgrowers Association. The defined purpose of this
association, as stated in the Constitution, is to promote: (1) Interest in
nut bearing plants; (2) Scientific research in their breeding and culture;
(3) Standardization of varietal names; (4) The dissemination of
information concerning the above and such other purposes as may
advance the culture of nut bearing plants.

We are very happy that the 1951 convention has come to Illinois,
which represents the western rim of this group. Only one meeting was