action.

Colonel Sober, as he was most often called, was a frequent attendant at
the meetings of the association in its early history. He was a pioneer
in the culture of the chestnut in America and the grower and distributor
of a variety which he called the Sober Paragon. He developed the
production of this valuable variety, and its nursery stock, on a large
scale and had demonstrated chestnut growing as the first of the
established nut industries in the northeastern United States. He devised
methods of grafting and cultivating the chestnut and invented means and
machinery for harvesting and shelling the nuts, for which he found a
ready market at good prices.

A man of strong personality, capable of large operations and
unaccustomed to failure he found it hard to admit defeat of his deeply
cherished purpose, and success already within his grasp, by that great
national calamity the invasion of this country by the fatal chestnut
blight. Undoubtedly he foresaw, as did other advocates of nut culture,
the great help and stimulus to the industry that would result from the
commercial success of chestnut culture, and it was a bitter
disappointment to him to find himself helpless before the irresistable
progress of the blight. This failure came too late in life for him to
recover and develop new fields in nut culture which, let us believe, he
would have done if he had been younger, for we know that he was an
advocate of the roadside planting of nut trees and a supporter of the
efforts of those of us who are striving for the success of all forms of
nut culture.

Nut growing and this association have lost an able and energetic worker.

An account of Col. Sober's life and works may be found in the August
1922 number of the American Nut Journal.

Telegram from Washington, D. C.

TO JAMES S. MCGLENNON:

Deeply regret my inability attend thirteenth annual meeting. Am sure it
will be great success and all will enjoy trip to your beautiful city and
surrounding country. The next few years will show fine results of
efforts our Association, and nut culture in north will take on new life
and result in planting thousands of acres trees. I hope Washington will
be selected as place for next annual meeting.

T. P. LITTLEPAGE

* * * * *

Lincoln, Nebraska, September 5, 1922

My Dear McGlennon:

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be in your city this
week. I have been through