MR. LITTLEPAGE: I think Dr. Bigelow has hit upon a point of a great deal of interest. For example, on my farm in Maryland I think there are perhaps three or four hundred beech trees of various sizes, probably none of them under ten years of age and up to fifty, and in the four years that I have been observing these beech trees, there has never grown upon them a single full, fertile beech nut. I have observed very carefully. On my farm in Indiana I have been observing the same thing for probably ten or twelve years, and I have never seen a single filled beech nut. There are some beech trees there two feet in diameter. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. W. C. REED, INDIANA. (Read by the Secretary.) FELLOW MEMBERS NORTHERN NUT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Our association convenes today under changed conditions not only in this country but throughout the world. Upon the United States rests the burden of feeding the world, or at least a large portion of it. With seven-tenths of the globe's population at war, surely this is a mammoth undertaking. The government is urging the farmer to increase his acreage of all leading grain crops, to give them better cultivation, and is guaranteeing him a liberal price. CROP VALUES. Crop values have increased until today there is land bringing more than $100.00 per acre for a single wheat crop. Corn has sold above $2.00 per bushel, beans at 20 cents per pound, and hogs at $20.00 per 100 pounds on foot. LABOR ADVANCES. With these high prices all along the line the price of labor has advanced to the highest point ever known. Surely it is up to the American farmer to husband his resources by the use of labor-saving machinery, by using the tractor and other power machines to conserve horse feed, by the cultivation of all waste land possible and by practicing economy and thrift. MORE INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE. In the more intensive agriculture that is urged upon us the Northern Nut Growers' Association can do a splendid work by the interesting of all land owners in the conservation of the native nut trees and the planting of grafted nut trees in gardens, orchards and yards, to take the place of many worthless shade trees. HIGHWAY PLANTING. With the government and states working together in the establishment of market highways and the building of permanent roads, now is the time to urge the planting of trees that will last for this generation and the ones that are to follow. In sections of the country the different kind of nut trees suitable could be selected and, if planted and given proper care, would be a source of large income in the years that are to come.