Mr. Wedge:  Ladies and gentlemen, fellow members:  Once a year our society has been in the habit of bestowing the highest honor within its gift upon some of the members that have honored the society for so many years with their services and have made themselves in that way so valuable to the public that we feel that they deserve the highest recognition which we are able to give them as a society.  It becomes my great pleasure at this time, standing in the place of my friend, Mr. Underwood, who is absent, to propose the following names to you which have been recommended by the executive board for this honor.  There are five of them, the names are:  John Bisbee, of Madelia; Charles Haralson, our superintendent at Excelsior; Mr. F. W. Kimball, of Waltham; Mr. John R. Cummins, of Minneapolis, and Mr. S. H. Drum, of Owatonna.

Mr. Bisbee has undertaken and is carrying on one of the largest experiments in seedling apples in the Northwest.  He seems to be a very quiet member among us, but he is one of the working members who are doing the things that the society most needs.

I do not need to tell you anything about the work of Charles Haralson, the superintendent of our fruit-breeding farm at Zumbra Heights.  His work has approved itself to us all so much that I think he really deserves the statement that was made by one of our older members that he has outdone Burbank.  He certainly has for this part of the country.

Mr. F. W. Kimball, a very dear personal friend of mine, has been carrying on experiments in orcharding for the past twenty-five years about, in the neighborhood of Austin, Minnesota, and has now removed to Waltham.  His experiments there in top-working have been among the most useful and among the largest that have been undertaken in any part of the state.  He perhaps deserve the same reputation in our state that our friend, Mr. Philips, has in Wisconsin.  I do not want to say this to disparage anybody else, but he has certainly made a very large and very valuable addition to our knowledge of the value of top-working.

Mr. John R. Cummins, of Minneapolis, whom we have with us this morning, is one who has been a very persistent experimenter in all lines.  I remember particularly going to his place some ten or fifteen years ago and going over the remarkable collection of ornamental trees and plants that he was growing, many of which I did not think it was possible to grow at Albert Lea, and there he was succeeding with them and developing them at a point 100 miles north of us.  We certainly owe him a deal of credit for his perseverance and his enterprise.  We are glad that he is with us today.

Mr. S. H. Drum, of Owatonna, is one who has also been one of our most faithful members, whose experiments have been in fruits, and he has brought great encouragement to us in the southern part of Minnesota.  He has now moved to Owatonna and, not being content with the best, he has started out with a new plantation with two kinds of fruit, and I think he is topping the market with the very best.