Chapter M: H. Wetherbee, Florist, Charles City, Iowa (2)

Mr. Andrews: I do not think that I am after this now, gentlemen, any more than every one of you ought to be after it. We ought to know more about the hardiness of these trees. This list has stood almost identically the same list for eight or nine years, pretty nearly the same, and we are not getting ahead at all. We do not know any more about the hardiness of these trees we have been putting out than we did before.

The amendment was carried.

The President: This matter will therefore be referred to the executive board. The next in order is the annual report of the executive board, Mr. J. M. Underwood, of Lake City, chairman. Mr. Underwood is sojourning in the sunny south. He has sent a report, however, to Secretary Latham, and Mr. Latham has requested me to read it. This was written at St. Augustine, Florida. (See index.)

The President: Any one wish to make any comments on this report? If not, we will pass to the report of the secretary, Mr. Latham.

Mr. Latham: Do you wish to have the report read or have it published later? It will be published anyway.

Mr. Miller: Let it be considered as read and approved and filed for publication. (See index.)

Motion is seconded and carried.

The President: We will now have the report of George W. Strand, treasurer. (See index.)

The President: What will you do with the report of the treasurer? You have heard the reading of it.

Upon motion the report was adopted and filed.

The President: The next order of business would be the paper by Professor J. C. Whitten but Mr. Whitten is not present, I am sorry to say, and I am now going to call on Mr. O. M. Heustis as he is present to tell us about his "Dwarf Apple Trees." (See index.)

The President: We are very much indebted to the doctor for his interesting talk. Is Professor Mackintosh in the room? I was going to ask him to read a paper on "Successful Cold Storage Plant for Apples," sent in by Mr. Hanson. I am sorry that Mr. Hanson is not able to be present, he is ill at home.

Professor Mackintosh not being present, paper was read by Mr. Clarence Wedge.

The President: Mr. Wedge will have a word for us at this time. He has a suggestion to make.

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.

Mr. President, I move that these names be added to the list of honorary life members of the Minnesota Horticultural Society.

There are several seconds to the motion.

The President: A very fitting tribute, I am sure. Are there any remarks? The name of Mr. Cummins calls my attention to the fact that about twelve years ago he presented this society with the gavel that I hold in my hand. This gavel is made of black walnut grown by Mr. Cummins on his own place. I do not suppose that he made the gavel himself, but it is made of material raised on his own farm, and when this gavel comes down good and hard I want you to think of Mr. Cummins. Are you ready for the question, that those gentlemen suggested be made honorary life members?

Motion is carried unanimously.

The President: I am now going to call on the young men from the University Farm who are contestants for the Gideon Memorial Fund. (See index.)

Contestants thereupon read their essays.

The President: I will now ask the judges to retire and decide which of these young men is entitled to this prize money. For the benefit of some of the newer members who may not understand the situation I will say that some years ago a number of the members of this society believed that we should commemorate the good work done by Peter M. Gideon. A sum of money was raised to be known as the Gideon Memorial Fund. It was decided that that money be placed at interest and that the interest derived therefrom be offered as prizes to young men attending our agricultural school or college. They were to deliver addresses at the meetings of the Minnesota Horticultural Society, and the young men preparing the best papers and making the best talks would be awarded this prize money, the accrued interest from this fund. So we have annually three young men from the agricultural college that present papers or make addresses on subjects that are of importance to this society. This is a memorial for Peter M. Gideon, who has done such splendid work for the fruit raisers of the Northwest.

While we are waiting for the report of the judges I will ask Mr. Ludlow to come forward and tell us about a letter that he received from Peter M. Gideon, November 2, 1885, and which was accompanied by Mr. Gideon's last catalog.

Judges announce their decision. (Applause.)

_Premiums Awarded to Gideon Memorial Contestants_:

1. The Plum Curculio--Edward A. Nelson. 2. Standardizing the Potato--A. W. Aamodt. 3. Marketing Fruit at Mankato--P. L. Keene.

The President: I am now going to call on some of the delegates to this meeting. Mr. George H. Whiting, representing the South Dakota Horticultural Society, we will ask him to come forward and say a word.

Mr. Whiting: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I do not know why Mr. Cashman should ask me to come forward. I have not very much to say and could have said it back there just as well. Perhaps you will wish I had stayed back there.

I will say it is a pleasure to me to be with the Minnesota horticulturists again. I have met with you quite a number of years but not in the capacity of delegate. I did not expect to be a delegate this time, thought I would leave the place for some younger man, but there seemed to be no other present, and so I had to accept. I rather felt as though I was not competent or did not care to take the responsibility of making a report. I am getting old and a little tired, and I do not like to do so much of that kind of work as I used to. However, I presume I will have to do the best I can and let it go at that.

I will say you have a wonderful society here. It is a wonder to me sometimes how you keep up the interest, how to keep up so much interest in this work. There is no other state in the Union that has such a good, live society. I attended a great many of the state societies last year. I had the pleasure of attending the Missouri State Society. I can say that you discount them and then some. An old state like Missouri and a fruit state, you might say, it is supposed to be in the fruit belt, and still you fellows up north here have all the vim and the snap and determination to do things that those fellows do not do at all. It is more in the man, I think sometimes, than it is in the location.

It used to be said that Minnesota was not a fruit state, you could not grow apples in Minnesota. Well, I believe Mr. Gideon said that if he could not grow apples in Minnesota he would not live there, something to that effect, and he did not intend to leave the state either. Now, you all know what success he made, and you that follow have a great deal to be thankful for the work he did, and you are hoping--and I presume you will be successful--to obtain an apple that is even better than the Wealthy.

I am glad that you take so much interest in this matter of new seedlings. It will surely develop something some day, there is no question about it. Of course, you cannot tell when, and you cannot tell who will be the lucky man to get the thousand dollars, but undoubtedly there is more at stake than the thousand dollars; that is a very small item.

I think I will not take up your time. It is getting on, and I have not thought of making any talk, have nothing prepared and nothing in my head. I thank you for your attention. (Applause.)

The President: I am going to call on our good friend, Professor Hansen, secretary of the South Dakota Horticultural Society, who has done so much for us.

Mr. Wedge: Mr. Hansen is not here. I just want to say a word that might interest some of the younger members of the society in regard to our friend who has just left the floor, Mr. Whiting, of Yankton. He is the original Dakota nurseryman, who went out in the days of the pioneers before I think there was any such thing as South Dakota, and he has stayed on the job ever since. That is not so wonderful, for others, lots of people, have stayed on the job, but he has made money out of the business and got rich. I think he deserves some very special praise. (Applause.)

The President: Is Professor Waldron in the room? Here he comes. He is the leading light of North Dakota and a gentleman who has been with us before. (Applause.)

Mr. Waldron: These people will think North Dakota is a dark place if this is a leading light. What is the occasion of this?

The President: Tell us your troubles.

Mr. Waldron: When we had a good wheat crop we did not have any troubles. We forget our other troubles whenever we can get something like 100 million bushels of wheat. Our horticultural troubles have been quite numerous. We had a frost every year, including July. We started in on the ninth day of June with a frost that killed everything in sight except a few cottonwood trees and things like that, but all of our tomatoes, which were in blossom by the way at that time because we had a favorable spring, and plums and apples went the same way. I think a few of the late blooming plums managed to survive. The frost in July did not hurt very much but the frost in August certainly finished us.

Mr. Latham: The reporter is taking all that.

Mr. Waldron: Our reputation is so good, we can own up to calamity once in a while. Of course, if our reputation was not better than others we would have to keep it dark, but inasmuch as nature favors us so continuously we can own up when we get bumped. The August frost put our corn out of business, so we are around with long fingers trying to steal seed corn.

However, a great many of the people of the state are looking forward to the matter of planting trees as never before, and our farmers and citizens are taking more interest in general tree planting and beautifying the homes than in previous years. I had this term a large class of students in landscape gardening. They will go out to the places where they live and encourage the planting of trees and landscape gardening there. In this matter of general ornamentation the frosts or other calamities have not discouraged us. I think there were more trees grown and more ornamental work done this year than in any two previous years because the men have the money and are willing to spend it. I was out on a farm last week where a man insisted on buying a thousand evergreen trees. The nurseryman tried to sell him only five hundred, but he would not have it that way. He wanted a thousand. He said he had the money and was going to pay for them; so he planted the thousand trees. We do not recommend such rashness on the part of our farmers, but it shows when a farmer insists on having a thousand trees he is taking the beautifying of his grounds seriously. This is perhaps an extreme case, but we have others working along the same line.

I certainly enjoy the privilege of being with you people here again as I have for the last quarter of a century, twenty-five years ago, when I was made an honorary member of this society, and I do not know of any prouder moment in my whole career than when you saw fit to honor me in that manner. I certainly would never forgive myself for the balance of the year if I failed to attend these meetings. (Applause.)

Mr. Philips: Waldron is too modest. He has not told the best thing he ever did in North Dakota, so I shall. I visited him a good many years ago, and he had some interesting boys there, especially the oldest one, and I told him that if he was going to keep ahead of that boy he would have to hustle, and now that boy at nineteen has the ability to go to one of the southern states as a professor. So he didn't tell us the greatest thing he ever did. Maybe some of the credit is due to his wife; that is the way it is at my house. (Applause.)

Mr. Waldron: I am so far behind that boy I am sort of jealous. I do not mention it.

The President: The secretary of the Wisconsin Horticultural Society is with us, Professor Cranefield. Is he in the room?

Mr. Cranefield: Mr. Graves, of Sturgeon Bay, is the duly accredited delegate to the society and probably you want to hear from him.

The President: We heard from him two or three days ago, and we will hear from him again, but just now we want you to give us a few words. This is Professor Cranefield, who has contributed on previous occasions to the success of our meetings. (Applause.) (See index.)

The President: I will now call on Professor Mackintosh, who is going to read a paper at this time.

Mr. Mackintosh: Yesterday I had to start the ball rolling as a substitute for a man from Washington, and with the assistance of Miss Bull we kept most of you here until after 12 o'clock. Today I am put ahead of the program, so you won't hear me tomorrow afternoon. The subject is, "Bringing the Producer and Consumer Together."

Mr. Mackintosh reads paper. (Applause.)

The President: I regret very much that time will not permit us to discuss this very able paper. Secretary Latham has just called my attention to the fact that there has been but very few tickets bought for the banquet this evening. You understand it takes time to prepare food, and he has to announce just how many people would be present, and I sincerely hope that those of you who intend to attend the banquet (and I trust that will be every one present) will get your tickets immediately. It is the very best part of our program. Please get your tickets so that Secretary Latham may know how to prepare for you.

At this time recess was taken until 1:30 o'clock p.m.

December 9, 1915, Afternoon Session.

Discussion on "The Topworked Orchard," led by A. J. Philips, Wisconsin. (See index.)

The President: The next order of business will be the election of officers for the coming year. The secretary just handed me this slip which gives you an idea of the requirements in order to be eligible to vote for officers. (Reads extracts from constitution.) The first will be the selection of a president for the coming year. Nominations are in order.

Mr. Bradley: Mr. President, it is said that republics are ungrateful, but it is not necessary for horticultural societies to be ungrateful. It has been, I think, in the past, and I hope it may continue to be in the future, the policy of this society to recognize the services of its officers and so we, I think, are justified in recognizing the distinguished and efficient services of our present presiding officer. I take great pleasure in placing in nomination for president of this society the Honorable Thomas E. Cashman. (Applause.)

Nomination is duly seconded and there are no other nominations.

Mr. Crosby: I move that the secretary be instructed to cast the unanimous ballot of this society for Thomas E. Cashman as president of this society.

Motion is seconded and carried.

Mr. Cashman: Friends, I deeply appreciate this honor that you have conferred upon me. I am always ready to contribute my mite towards the service of the people, but I am never happy unless I am convinced that I am able to give all that the position demands. Your selection of me as your presiding officer for the sixth time convinces me that you are at least satisfied with what I have been able to do for you and this, I assure you, makes me extremely happy.

I will endeavor to show my appreciation by doing all that is within my power to further the interests of this society made up of men and women that cannot be excelled for intelligence, cleanliness of habits and honorable and right living. I know a great many horticulturists, not only of this state but of other states, and they, I assure you--and you know it yourselves--are far above the average. I therefore deem it a great honor to be known as the president of one of the best organizations, I do not care whether it is horticultural or otherwise, in this country today. I thank you. (Applause.)

The President: I find there are two members of the executive board to be elected at this time, one to succeed Professor LeRoy Cady and another Mr. R. A. Wright, whose terms of office expire at this time.

Mr. Cady and Mr. Wright are nominated to succeed themselves, nominations are seconded and upon motion the secretary cast the unanimous ballot of the society for Mr. Cady and Mr. Wright as members of the executive board for the coming three years.

The President: The next will be the selection of a treasurer.

Mr. George Strand is renominated, nomination is seconded and on motion the secretary cast the ballot of the society for Mr. George W. Strand for treasurer.

The President: The secretary places in nomination the following men, as vice presidents of this organization. I will ask him to name the list. Vice-Presidents: C. E. Snyder, 1st Cong. Dist., Preston; S. D. Richardson, 2nd Cong. Dist., Winnebago; J. K. Andrews, 3rd Cong. Dist., Faribault; B. Wallner, Jr., 4th Cong. Dist., St. Paul; F. H. Nutter, 5th Cong. Dist., Minneapolis; Matt. Tschida, 6th Cong. Dist., St. Cloud; G. A. Anderson, 7th Cong. Dist., Renville; J. Kimball, 8th Cong. Dist., Duluth; A. L. Hanson, 9th Cong. Dist., Ada; A. W. Richardson, 10th Cong. Dist., Howard Lake.

Secretary Latham reads names of nominees for vice presidents and places them in nomination. Nomination is seconded and upon motion the secretary is instructed to cast the ballot of the society for the persons named as vice-presidents.

The President: The next number will be a speech by Mr. S. P. Crosby, chairman of the committee that was selected by this association to go before the legislature at the last session and try to secure an appropriation sufficient to build a home for this society. (See index.)

The next gentleman on the program is our friend Clarence Wedge, who is going to tell us of his trip out to Yellowstone Park. (See index.)

Mr. Wedge: Not exactly to Yellowstone Park. We came within a day's drive of the Yellowstone, but our interest and enthusiasm went in another direction this year.

Mr. Wedge reads paper.

The President: "Peonies New and Old," by Mr. A. M. Brand, of Faribault, one of the best peony specialists in the state.

A Member: And of the world. (Applause.) (See index.)

Discussion.

The President: We have another noted horticulturist with us today from Illinois. You have all heard of the Senator Dunlap strawberry. The originator is with us today, Senator Dunlap, of Savoy, Illinois. He will be on the program tomorrow. I will be pleased to have the senator come forward and give us a word of greeting.

Mr. Dunlap: I hardly think it is necessary for me to come forward. I will be on the program a couple of times, and you will hear all that you care to from me. I am very glad to be here with you. It has been some time since I met with your society, but I remember well the very pleasant time I had at that time. I came this week from the Michigan Horticultural Society, in session at Grand Rapids, and I was very loath to leave such an interesting meeting, but I knew when I came to Minneapolis I would be in just as interesting a meeting. I wish to disabuse your minds of the statements made by your honorable chairman through an error. I am not the originator of the Senator Dunlap strawberry. The Reverend Mr. Reisenour (?) is the originator of the strawberry, and he thought it was a thrifty, strong, healthy plant and would stand the name of Dunlap, so he gave it to the strawberry. (Laughter and Applause.)

The President: I stand corrected. I have been misinformed, although I think you carry the honor. Our time is up. I have been requested to announce that the lantern talk given by Mrs. James Jennison will take place at the close of the Woman's Auxiliary meeting. Some very talented ladies are to speak this afternoon, and I hope you will all stay and listen to them. I will now turn the meeting over to the Women's Auxiliary and request Mrs. F. M. Powers, who will preside, to take the chair.

Mrs. Powers: Just a continuation, I hope, of our good program that was begun this afternoon, and we will now listen to Mrs. Clarence Wedge, of Albert Lea, on the "Value of Horticulture to the Farm." Mrs. Wedge is not a stranger to horticulture nor to this society. (See index.)

Mrs. Powers: Some one has said that the enemy of art is the enemy of nature, and art is nothing more than the highest sagacity and attainment of human nature. We have with us Mrs. Cyrus W. Wells, who has had considerable experience in this line and will give us the practical side.

Mrs. Wells spoke on "Art Made Practical."

Mrs. Powers: "The Day's Work," by Mrs. John B. Irwin.

Mrs. Powers: According to our program we were to have one speaker tomorrow morning because we thought she could not be here at this time, but Mrs. Dunlap is here and will favor us now, if you please.

Talk by Mrs. A. M. Dunlap on "Better Methods in the Home."

Mrs. Powers: The last number on our program will be "The Highway Beautiful," by Mrs. Jennison.

Mrs. Jennison gave a lantern talk.

President Cashman: We have a very important question to be considered this afternoon, and, fortunately for us, it is going to be taken care of by one of our best men--"Breeding for Hardiness"--something this gentleman has been doing all his life. He has met with a great deal of success, and we are profiting by it. That gentleman is Professor N. E. Hansen, of Brookings, South Dakota. (Applause.) (See index.)

The President: Mr. C. E. Older has some suggestions to make, and we will give him an opportunity to talk at this time.

Mr. Older: Mr. President, and Ladies and Gentlemen: In a meeting of some of the leading exhibitors of the state fair yesterday they expressed quite a bit of dissatisfaction with the present manner of awarding premiums on commercial apples, that is, boxes of apples and one-layer boxes. The point was that it would be a good thing if the state could be divided so that the sections which are more favorable for the development of the apple would be in a section by themselves, and the balance of the state compete by itself. The following resolution was formulated to bring before this society, asking for their opinion oh the subject and discussion:

Resolved, That we ask the state fair board that the state be divided into two sections for the purpose of exhibit at the State Fair, making two classes, one being the Wealthy apple and the other class comprising all other varieties of box and one layer apples, the state to be divided as follows: Beginning at the Mississippi river on the north line of Goodhue County and running west on the north line of Goodhue, Rice, Le Sueur and Nicollet Counties, thence running south on the west line of Nicollet, Blue Earth and Faribault. All those counties lying east and south of these lines are to constitute the first district, the balance of the state being known as the second district.

We also ask the state fair board that first, second, third, fourth and fifth premiums be offered on all apples, and on all the next ten lower exhibits a certain premium be paid to all deserving exhibits.

And we ask that premiums be offered on Everbearing Strawberries showing both bearing plants and fruit of the Progressive, Superb, and any other varieties.

We also ask the state fair board that they make some practical arrangements to get the horticultural exhibits moved to the state fair from the depots in a more satisfactory and cheaper manner than the present arrangements.

I move you that this resolution be adopted.

Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Meeting adjourned.

December 10, 1915, Morning Session.

The President: We are to have a talk on "Spraying the Orchard," by Senator Dunlap, of Illinois, this morning. (See index.)

Discussion.

Mr. Crosby: We thank Senator Dunlap for his able talk. I think that is the way to progress. If we do not do things right up-to-date we can learn how to do better from a competent man.

The President: We all enjoyed the able talk of Senator Dunlap. He is president of the Orchard Association of Illinois. He is considered one of the most practical men down there, and we are very fortunate in having him with us and to listen to his valuable talk and experience. (Applause.)

We will now listen to Professor Richard Wellington, who will tell us about "Orcharding in Minnesota." (Applause.) (See index.)

Discussion.

The President: I am going to suggest a little matter at this time which I am sure you will all approve of. It has been said by hundreds of men and women attending these meetings who have had an opportunity of enjoying the talks and papers and splendid program given here that we had the greatest horticultural society in the world. It is true that we have the largest membership of any horticultural society in the United States and, I presume, of the world.

You will all agree with me that is due to the efforts of one man to a large extent. That man has been in our service and looked after our interests for twenty-five years. He is at his best all the time, cordial, kind, using good judgment, prevents friction among us, always working for the best interests of everybody belonging to the society and the interests of the state.

As I said before, he has served us twenty-five years, and I think it only fitting at this time that we should show our appreciation in a way that will appeal better than words. It has been suggested that we purchase some little token and present it this afternoon. It is up to you as to how much you want to give or whether you want to give anything or not, but Mr. Crosby and Mr. Brackett will be at the door as you pass out this noon, and they will probably have a hat there and you can drop in what you want to, and we will buy something for him and present it this afternoon. (Great applause.)

The President: Now we will turn the meeting over to the Plant Breeders' Auxiliary. I regret very much to have to announce that our good friend, Clarence Wedge, president of this auxiliary, is ill this afternoon and unable to occupy the chair. I understand there is no vice-president of the auxiliary, and I have been requested to continue as chairman during this meeting.

We have a very important program, one of the very best we have had. Some of our best men are on this program and I hope you will all stay and attend the balance of this meeting. I am going to call on our good friend, Charles Haralson, superintendent of the Zumbra Heights farm, to tell us about "New Fruits Originated at the State Fruit-Breeding Farm." (Applause.) (See index.)

The President: Professor C. B. Waldron, of North Dakota, finds it necessary to leave in a very short time, and he will therefore address you at this time instead of this afternoon. He will tell us about "Running Out of Varieties." (See index.)

We will now listen to the report of the committee on examination of the Minnesota State Fruit-Breeding Farm, Dr. O. M. Huestis, Chairman. (See index.)

The President: The next speaker needs no introduction to a Minnesota audience, as the word "Hansen" is a household word and particularly in every agricultural community within the state, and the Hansen hybrids are eagerly sought for by practically everybody who plants trees. Professor Hansen has done a good work and is still accomplishing things. He will tell us what he has done during 1915. I regret the time is so short, but we will get Mr. Hansen to tell us more about his work.

"Newer Fruits," Prof. N. E. Hansen, Brookings, S. D.

Afternoon Session, at 1:30.

Half-hour exercise, questions and answers on "Increasing the Fertility of the Land," led by Dr. F. J. Alway. (See index.)

The President: Mr. Crosby has a word for us, and before continuing with the regular program I will ask him to come forward at this time.

Mr. Crosby: Gentlemen of the Horticultural Society: Mr. Latham, please come this way. I have the honor, in behalf of the society, to inform you, as you probably know, that this is your silver wedding, but we are going it one better and make it a golden wedding for you today. We have come to the conclusion, you have been with this society for twenty-five years, and we think it is best that you be watched and chained. I have the honor of presenting to you, in behalf of the society, a gold watch and chain. That is all I have to say. (Applause.)

Mr. Philips: Now for a speech.

Mr. Latham: Wait a moment, I will see if it is worth it. (Laughter.) I hate to part with this old turnip. I have carried it forty-five years now, never broke a crystal on it, even. It is a good faithful companion. I do not know what I will do with this now unless I put it away in a safety vault somewhere.

I do not think the Horticultural Society expects me to make a speech; they know I am not a talker. I could say something if the room were smaller, but my voice does not seem to carry very well. I am a good deal in the fix of the steamboat that carried passengers on the river up and down to the camp meeting there. They had a whistle on that boat that made a tremendous noise but when they blew it the boat had to stop. (Laughter.) If I talk loud enough to be heard here, my thinking works do not operate. (Laughter.)

I hardly know how to express my appreciation of this gift, as showing the sentiment of the society towards me. Of course, I have tried to do what I could for the society. Sometimes, perhaps, I have gone a little too far, something like the man who was appointed in charge of a flag station. He had never done any such service as that, but he understood the business of a flagman was to stop trains. The first train that came along was a heavy express train, eight or ten or a dozen coaches, and he rushed out and flagged the train. The conductor got off, all in a hurry, and looked around. He did not see anybody but the flagman. He said: "Where are your passengers?" "Well," he says, "there ain't any passengers to get on, but I didn't know but somebody would like to get off." (Laughter.) Sometimes, perhaps, I have overreached myself here.

Twenty-five years is quite a while to look back, and as I look over the faces of those present I can scarcely see one that was a member of the society twenty-five years ago when I became secretary. Mr. Long in his address before you at the banquet last night spoke of the meeting that he first attended of the horticultural society, held in what is now the Metropolitan Life, on the ground floor, and he spoke of the surroundings there. No fruit on exhibition. If a man had two or three apples in his pocket, he showed them around on the sly as though it was a crime to let people know there was such a thing and that he had a few at home he could eat. Quite a remarkable thing!

That was the meeting of the horticultural society in which I was first elected secretary, and I recall well all the circumstances connected with it. So many of our members that I thought so much of in those days are gone. Of those who were present at that meeting, the only person left that I recall is Mr. Underwood. I had forgotten Mr. Long was there; I think he reported the meeting; I guess the first of our meetings that he reported, too.

I am not going to make any more of an address. President Vincent is here and will address you. I thank you very much indeed. (Applause.)

Mr. Vincent: I am very glad that I got in in time to be a witness to this delightful and gratifying little ceremony which has just taken place. I can not imagine anything more satisfying to a man who, in spite of all his modesty, knows he has done for twenty-five years good, genuine, valuable work than to have other people intimate in so pleasant a way that they are not entirely oblivious to what he has done.

It always does one good to see efficient work recognized, and, while I cannot own, I am sorry to say, to an intimate personal acquaintance with Mr. Latham, I have come into association with him often enough to be able to share a little what you feel toward him and toward what he has done.

The President: I am sure you will all be delighted to hear from the very popular president of one of the greatest universities in the United States, President George E. Vincent of Minnesota State University, who will now address you. (See index.)

The President: I am sure we are very much indebted to President Vincent for this most scholarly and delightful speech. We hope he can continue with us during the afternoon. Owing to the fullness of our program this forenoon we are unable to discuss one of our most important subjects, and that was "The Elements of Hardiness," by Prof. M. J. Dorsey, member of the Fruit Breeding Section, of the University Farm. He will discuss that question at this time. (Applause.) (See index.)

The President: Senator Dunlap, who so delightfully entertained us this morning and instructed us on the subject of "Spraying" will now speak to us on the subject of "Packing and Marketing Apples." (See index.)

Discussion.

The President: I am now going to call on a gentleman that hasn't said a word during our discussions and that is Mr. Weld, and request him to recite his favorite poem.

Mr. Weld recites "The Three Warnings."

The President: We have had a very interesting session, had a good time, everything has gone very nicely, but somehow there has been one thing lacking. The old friends from Iowa have not been with us with one exception, Mr. Ferris, who gave us the lantern talk on Tuesday, but Friend Gardner, Patten, Sherman and several others (I believe Sherman has been in town, but we have not seen him here) have been absent. The reason for it is that the Iowa people have been holding their annual meeting. But I am very glad that Mr. Gardner is with us this afternoon, and I am now going to call upon Mr. Charles F. Gardner, of Osage, Iowa. (Applause.)

Mr. Gardner: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: I have attended your meetings so long that when I appear here before you I feel as though I had got home. I have attended every meeting of this society except two since this society held its annual meeting at Lake City the last time. That is when I joined the society, and since that time a great many things have taken place. Think it is seventeen or eighteen years ago, in that neighborhood. I was absent two years. I went to New Mexico, I went there to die, but luckily I escaped and came back home. I want to say this, that when I got back to this part of the country, if there was anything I thanked God for it was that I was spared to get back. I think there is no necessity of emigrating either from Minnesota or Iowa, and people that have traveled over the west and made a tour extending along the Pacific coast and finally get back into this country, this latitude, are generally pretty well satisfied and stay here. That is, providing they didn't spend all their money and can not get back here. Some of our citizens are now stranded out there and will come home whenever they can.

In regard to the progress of horticulture in this length of time, I know you are very much interested in the work of Mr. Patten and a good many of you have trees that he originated. I want to say that the people of our state of Iowa have not really gotten their eyes open yet in horticultural ways. They only appropriated for our use $4,000. We have five societies, the state society--and then the state is divided into four sections. In the last few years our state society has appropriated to carry on, to help Mr. Patten carry on his work, we have appropriated and used $4,600.

Before that time our society allowed $50.00 a year for station fees for quite a little while, then before that $25.00 a year. Last year we appeared before the legislature and tried to get some help to keep up that work and informed them that our money was getting short and that unless it was done we could not carry on that work. The legislature hardly winked an eye at our request. No money was appropriated, and of all the things that I ever hated to help do last week was to discontinue the Charles City station. For fear that some one might think we had gone back on Mr. Patten and that the work he has done will be lost to the world, I will say there is nothing of that kind. There is not a member of our society but would do anything in the world for Mr. Patten, to help him. It is just simply a fact that the money of our society is so nearly exhausted we had hardly enough to pay for the expenses of our meeting last week. We had a splendid meeting and never had such an exhibit of apples before. Perhaps we may have had as many apples on exhibit but not so many perfect ones. On the first opportunity we have we are going to see that Mr. Patten does not suffer. I would say that they are in pretty good shape to take care of Mr. Patten down there for a year or two, and we will not lose the valuable work he has done.

As the meeting is drawing to a close I want to say in closing that if there is anything that does me good it is to come up here and look into your faces once a year, and I wish that I could see more of you. There is a kind of bond of brotherhood and a feeling that when I am here I am among friends and I have found that to be the case for almost twenty years. Thank you. (Applause.)

The President: I have just discovered a question here that should be answered, if there is anyone here that can do so. "In my locality the basswood and box elders are infested with a scale-like substance that looks like cotton. Most of the trees of the varieties named are infested. What is it and is there a remedy?"

Mr. Kellogg: That is no doubt the cottonwood bug that infects the soft maple. They come and work for about three years and then some insect comes in and cleans them out.

The President: What is the remedy, Mr. Kellogg?

Mr. Kellogg: You can use any spray for this bug. On forest trees it is out of reach, but arsenical spray will get them if you can reach them.

Mr. Warner: Cotton maple scale. Professor Waldron recommends to spray with crude oil when the trees are dormant. We find it best to cut it back. The cottony appearance does not show until the second year and then the scale has really done its injury. The time to cut it, you will find a lot of small scales on the young twigs, and if they are cut off and a new growth forced you get rid of it.

The President: I understand Prof. Broderick of the College of Winnipeg has been here. If he is here I wish he would come forward and give us a word. I understand he is the delegate from Winnipeg. (Applause.)

Mr. Broderick: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: Before going away, I would like, as a member of the Manitoba society to express to you my great pleasure at being here and taking part in your excellent meeting. I had planned for a number of years to come down but circumstances have been such that I have been unable to be here. I might say that we in Manitoba, about 400 miles north of here, are interested in horticulture as well as you people in Minnesota. We have a fraternal interest in the work you are doing. A number of our members, I might say, are members of your society, and we are getting your excellent publication and following the work you are doing. Our problems up there are very similar to yours, and we feel that you can give us greater information than we can obtain from any other source. We appreciate the excellent work you are doing, and it has been of great interest to me to see the wide range of subjects you are covering. I was particularly interested this morning in the session of the plant breeders, as that is a line of work that we feel up in Manitoba has some possibilities for us. In a horticultural line we are confined very largely to the hardy varieties. We are working on improving the hardiness of our varieties, and the fruit growing as it is carried on with us very largely in a small way by the farmers and others interested through our province. We feel, however, that there are possibilities, and we are only too glad to get any information from you as to the work and progress that is being made in the matter of hardy fruits. We have been endeavoring to improve our native plums. I have had the station there at Winnipeg, and in connection with one of our nurserymen, Mr. Buchanan, we have been selecting hardy plums for a number of years, and we hope from that stock in crossing with the Japanese plums, as Professor Hansen suggested this morning, to prove that there are possibilities even as far north as Manitoba. I have heard Mr. Buchanan say on several occasions that he thought the possibilities of plum growing were fairly good in Manitoba. In small fruits we have possibilities. The currants and raspberries grow very well. We have not done so much in strawberries, but I know there are a number of growers in parts of the province that are making some very successful experiments in strawberries, and we hope in a few years to produce strawberries of a fairly good quality.

The President: How is your wild strawberry?

Mr. Broderick: I find that the wild strawberry does very well. We have around Winnipeg, where the college is located, a wild strawberry that does very well, and it is possible that we can do some work on improving the wild strawberry. We are looking to our hardy native fruits and the hardy importations we are making to establish varieties which are hardy and suited to our conditions. We are interested also in the work done in tree planting, and I followed with interest the discussion this morning as to windbreak protection. That has been a problem with us. The government of the Dominion has taken it over, and we find it is working out all right. Our Forestry Station at Indian Head sends out lots of trees free each year. These are planted, and they have a system of inspection. Certain requirements are made in regard to the preparation of the soil, methods of planting and caring for the plantation afterwards.

A Member: What are the majority of your forest trees?

Mr. Broderick: Forest trees are largely deciduous, the Manitoba maple, the ash, the elm and the willows. I was pleased to hear some one this morning mention the golden willow. That is one of the best trees we have. The Manitoba maple, of course grows all over that northern country, but we find that during recent years it has been becoming seriously infected with various kinds of pests. This year the aphis were serious. We are discouraging to a certain extent the Manitoba maple and planting other trees and are getting better results. The ash, the elm and willow are doing well. With the conifer trees, the Scotch pine, the white spruce, the balsam fir and the ridgepole pine are those which are growing.

The improving of home grounds is another question that is interesting us. I do not think there is anything in this western country that is going to do more to make homes than this. So we are interested in all the work you are carrying on, and we appreciate the opportunity of coming here and meeting with you and listening to the excellent discussions you have. I might say that our annual meeting is held in February and if any of you happen to stray up there we would be only too glad to have you join with us.

I thank you very much for the many courtesies extended to me on behalf of the Manitoba society. (Applause.)

(Time was now taken up by two minute speeches of different members, after which the meeting was declared closed.)

Records of Executive Board for 1916.

Record of meeting held in secretary's office 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, 1915.

There were present Thos. E. Cashman, LeRoy Cady, Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews, R. A. Wright and A. W. Latham.

In the absence of the chairman of the board, Mr. J. M. Underwood, Clarence Wedge was elected chairman pro tem.

The following accounts were examined and approved and orders drawn in payment therefor.

Geo. W. Strand, treasurer, premiums annual meeting, 1914, $596.50.

Geo. W. Strand, treasurer, premiums summer meeting, 1915, $172.00.

A. W. Latham, expenses secretary's office from June 1, 1915, to Dec. 1, 1915, $1,064.30.

It was decided to present to the annual meeting of the society for action the following named persons for honorary life membership: John Bisbee, Madelia; J. R. Cummins, Minneapolis; S. H. Drum, Owatonna; F. W. Kimball, Waltham; Chas. Haralson, Excelsior.

An appropriation of fifty-three dollars and 25-100 ($53.25) was made for the benefit of the Minnesota Forestry Association.

Adjourned sine die,
CLARENCE WEDGE,
Chairman, pro tem.

A. W. LATHAM, Secretary.

* * * * *

Record of meeting of the board held in West Hotel 12:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, 1915.

There were present at this meeting Thos. E. Cashman, LeRoy Cady, Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews, R. A. Wright and A. W. Latham.

Thos. E. Cashman was elected chairman pro tem.

J. M. Underwood was elected chairman of the board for 1916, and A. W. Latham was elected secretary at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars ($1,800.00) per annum. The salary of the treasurer was fixed at twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per annum.

The board having under consideration the recommendation of grades of apples for use in packing for market, a committee consisting of Clarence Wedge, J. P. Andrews and R. A. Wright was appointed to take the question under consideration with authority to act for the board.

The sum of eight hundred dollars ($800.00) was appropriated as a revolving fund for the use of the secretary of the society during the year 1916.

The following resolution was presented by Clarence Wedge and unanimously adopted by the board.

"Resolved: That the board favors the exclusive distribution of
new varieties of fruits of probable commercial value
originating at the State Fruit-Breeding Farm to members of the
society and the trial stations of the state as at present
practiced.

"Resolved further--That when a variety of fruits originating at
the fruit breeding farm has been sufficiently tested to
establish its commercial value in the state, it shall be given
a name and the State Fruit-Breeding Farm shall cease to
propagate it for distribution."

Adjourned sine die,
THOS. E. CASHMAN,
Chairman, pro tem.

A. W. LATHAM, Secretary.

* * * * *

Record of meeting held in the secretary's office June 22, 1916.

All members of the board were present except R. A. Wright.