53 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



miles in length, and all covered with fruits from one end to 

 the other. That is a false impression. While in the fruit 

 growing districts thej^ can do anything they please, and 

 can have their thousands of acres, these districts are not so 

 extensive as one would infer. Realy there is but a small 

 portion of the state adapted to fruit, and further north 

 there is something very difficult in that matter to under- 

 stand. A man may start in one place and be very successful 

 in grape raising, while another man may start in, five miles 

 further and make a total failure of the whole thing. The 

 five miles will change something, I don't know what. 

 Either the soil or some current of air will totally blight and 

 ruin fruits that are perfect in other localities near by. 

 There is no certainty in anything until you test it inch by 

 inch. It is just as unsafe as anthing can be for a man to 

 invest, until he has tried the thing. So it goes with most 

 everything in that state. I had always thought of Cal- 

 ifornia is a very rich state agriculturally, as soon as its 

 agricultural resources were developed. In southern Cal- 

 ifornia there was herbage all over the country, for a million 

 herd of cattle, and that was in January too; it was all choice 

 herbage. To add to that you would see a horse or two, or a 

 cow or two, or in riding across the country, you would see per- 

 haps, two or three herds of sheep, with a little corral and a 

 little hut for the shepherd. The fact was that they could put 

 only a few cows, for that was their whole herbage for the 

 whole year and when that was gone there vs^as nothing to keep 

 the cattle. In riding across any part of the state that 

 I did, outside, that is of the fruit localities, you ride 

 across an extended stretch of it, where you do not find 

 anything to make life enjoyable, and nothing to contribute 

 to the real comforts of life. I came home with this feel- 

 ing, while California is a most excellent and enjoyable 

 place in which to spend a few of the winter months, I 

 would very much dislike to adopt it as my home the year 

 around, and particularly, if I had my living to get I should 

 vastly rather stay in Wisconsin; and I think you can all 

 adopt that conclusion without going to look, or reading, or 

 thinking upon it. I think the people who are here to-day 



