Perhaps one of the most acute problems with which the Association is faced is the struggle to keep financially solvent. We are all aware of our changing economy, particularly the increased costs of printing and in fact of everything that our organization uses or needs, even postage. In my thinking, the finances of the Association are much the same as those of an individual, who is confronted with expenditures that exceed his income. The things that have to be done are obvious and the same in both cases. One is to spend less and the other is to secure more funds. In the judgment of your directors and executive committee, expenditures have been reduced as low as is safe in order to keep a going organization. Members join the Association for the value which they get out of it and a large part of this value is in the form of reports, newsletters, information made available and the organization of annual meetings. If these services were discontinued or curtailed, membership falls off. This has been the experience of other plant societies, of which there are many. In my judgment retrenchment is not the answer in the present situation. Securing additional funds is the best forward-looking policy. The question comes up as to how this may be done. Experience in our Association and I believe other associations as well, has shown that $3.00 is about as far as dues can be raised. There comes a point with every society when, if the dues are increased, there is a falling off of membership, which more than offsets the gain. Other obvious procedures are: (1) increasing the number of members; (2) providing different types of memberships to encourage larger contributions; (3) gifts; and (4) special fund raising projects. Of these various ways and means, certainly increasing the number of members is by far the more promising. The overhead of the association is not increased with additional memberships anywhere near in proportion to the contributions of those members. This is particularly true for additional copies of the report and general office expense. The drive for new members under President Best's leadership has produced gratifying results and I believe if this is continued effectively through the next few years, a membership increase can be secured that will assure the Association's balancing its budget. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand paid memberships would solve most of our financial difficulties. Provision is already made for different types of memberships and it is to be hoped that many who can do so will join the contributing member class at least until we are out of our present financial woods.