126 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



man crippled up with the rheumatism. I don't know whetlier I would 

 take to it if I was young. Good old Nebraska seems good enough for me. 

 It has done well by most of us. We have a lot of Nebraska friends here, 

 and one takes me through the orange orchards of Pasadena this after- 

 noon. I am slowly gaining in health after a terrible surgical operation 

 which almost killed me. Of course I never can be well again but hope 

 to be well enough to enjoy myself and drive my pencil a little longer. 



Hoping that you will have a pleasajit session, 1 am yours, 



C. S. HARRISON. 



The President: The next paper on the program will be by F. C. 

 Miles, of the Fruit Judging Team of the School of Agriculture, on "The 

 National Horticultural Congress." 



THE NATIONAL HORTICULTURAL CONGRESS. 

 F. C. Miles, Fruit Judging Team, College of Agriculture. 



The Fourth National Horticultural Congress was held at Saint Jo- 

 seph, Missouri, November 23 to December 2, 1911. Whiie the attendance 

 was not exceedingly large, yet undoubtedly the meeting will have a wide- 

 spread influence. 



It seems that comparatively few people, who have never attended 

 one of these large fruit shows, can realize the importance of being pres- 

 ent. We all understood that, in order to succeed in any line of work, it 

 was necessary to have an Ideal, and horticultural work proves no excep- 

 tion. The primary object of the congress is to establish that ideal for 

 the fruit grower. The grower has the opportunity to see almost perfect 

 fruit and he can fix standards of the varieties in which he is interested. 

 Thus he has something better to strive for. He comes in contact with 

 other growers, and if he is an exhibitor he will see the points of superior- 

 ity in the fruit which wins the prizes, and then by taking advantage of 

 the several features of the congress he will be better fitted to compete 

 in the following year. 



In addition to seeing an excellent display of fruit one may attend the 

 programs which are given. At the meeting this winter such subjects as 

 "Spraying to control apple diseases," "Control of fruit insects," "Market- 

 ing th'e apple crop," "Orchard heating," and various other phases of or- 

 chard management were presented by prominent authorities in these 

 lines. 



Also there was each day a demonstration in the packing of fruit. 

 Numerous forms of spraying machinery and other appliances used by 

 the fruit grower were on exhibition, and a critical study could be made 

 of the various types. 



Another feature of the show was the Students Fruit Judging Con- 

 test. The contest was open to teams composed of undergraduate stu- 

 dents from any agricultural college in the United States. A trophy in 

 the form of a cup, donated by the Twentieth Century Farmer of Omaha 

 was awarded to the winning team. In order to become the pei'manent 

 property of any college the cup must be won two consecutive years. Ne- 



