WELCOME 39 



come you to this corner of the state of Nebraska, where we grow the 

 •finest fruit and the finest flowers, and the finest crops, and where we 

 have the finest women and the best men. 



We are glad to welcome you to our city, and we hope that your stay 

 with us may be pleasant and profitable and that you will enjoy yourselves 

 while you are here. Before you leave here we would like to have you go 

 out into the surrounding country and see the finest farms and the finest 

 orchards and the finest crops that can be grown in the state of Nebraska. 

 We are glad to welcome you to this county. I have lived in Nebraska 

 thirty years and I want to say that right here in old Richardson county 

 we have the best there is. The soil everywhere is rich and productive of 

 an abundant harvest. Richarsdon county has long been known, not only 

 as the finest agricultural poition of the state of Nebraska, but cf the whole 

 world. There are no waste acres of land and it is all valuable. I remem- 

 her as a boy, of studying the map of this country, and all this through 

 here was combined as the Great American Desert, and in the earlier 

 days people said it would always be worthless. As Horace Greeley said, 

 "Go west young man, — go west and grow up with the country." Many of 

 us did come west and have grown up with the country. 



And I am particularly glad to welcome you to this county, — to this 

 country that is flowing with milk and honey. Again I extend to you a 

 most hearty welcome to Richardson ("ounty and to our city. 



The President: 1 want to say to Mr. Oliver and the people of Falls 

 City that the Nebraska Horticultural Society desires to thank them 

 for the very cordial welcome they have extended to us and for the privi- 

 lege of coming to this substantial and reliable county of Nebraska. 



We are very glad to be with you and glad to be assured of this hearty 

 welcome. eW do not want any of you to think that we are engaged in a 

 selfish work, but that we are here to help you more thoroughly enjoy life 

 and the good things around us. This- society is not made of salaried indi- 

 viduals and we do not have a large amount of money. We do get a small 

 appropriation, however, from the state and this is used in spreading the 

 news and information among the people. We are interested in the propa- 

 gation of fruits and flowers, — in bringing out the best that is possible, 

 in helping to make the home grounds and public grounds more beautiful 

 and ornamental. This society is divided up so as to cover the whole state; 

 we have the state divided into horticultural districts and in each district, 

 so far as can, we carry on experiments and determine what is best in 

 the line of fruits and flowers and trees. In this way we find out what is 

 best adapted to each section of the country, and we are glad to give this 

 information out to the people. 



I want to say again that we are glad to be permitted to come into this 

 part of the state and spread some of our doctrine. We are glad to be 

 here, and hope you will get something from us, and also that our stay 

 here may be very profitable to us. 



