CONVENTION OF SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS 193 



thtir way to the front and are entitled to a great deal of credit for thei;- 

 persistent labor. Wisconsin is well up with other states of its age and 

 their horticultural society surely deserves its share of the credit. 



The meeting at Bayfield was well attended and a considerable 

 amount of enthusiasm was shown. 



MINNESOTA HORTICULTURAL MEETING. 



C. S. Harri~on. Delegate from Nebraska Horticultural Society. 



I am a member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, also life 

 member of the Nebraska and Minnesota state societies. I have had the 

 pleasure of attending such gatherings in many states, but I never saw 

 such earnestness and enthusiasm as you meet at this gathering. It is the 

 largest in the nation if not in the world. It has over 3,000 members. 



You seek for the causes which have led to such splendid success, and 

 you find them in the officers who plan so wisely and judiciously. A. W. 

 Latham, the secretary, is a man of great ability for planning and organ- 

 izing. The directors cooperate with him. The members are willing to 

 be led with such master minds to lead them, and there is no strife and 

 fault-finding such as you often find in other societies. 



I settled in Minnesota in 1857. I was there when the state was born. 

 We no more expected to raise apples than oranges. It seemed an utter 

 impossibility. The story of the early struggles is a story of disaster 

 and defeat. Orchard after orchard was planted only to be cut down by 

 a severe winter. Old Boreas said, "This is my realm, and you shall not 

 invade it." The gauntlet was thrown down and men of iron took it up. 

 They built an ironclad apple from the ground up, and now they have 

 won. After one of the severest winters known there is a splendid show- 

 ing of fruit. New and hardy kinds are all the while being produced. 

 The Wealthy is a wonderful apple. Some were taken from Minnesota 

 to the great apple show of the West and they won, much to the chagrin 

 of the westerners. Apples grown in Minnesota are of the richest flavor, 

 far surpassing in quality the western apple. And if one is going to 

 raise this kind of fruit he had better try Minnesota; first, because good 

 land for orcharding can be bought for $50 per acre; second, an immense 

 freight bill can be saved; third, you grow apples in the heart of a great 

 want where your fruit will find ready sale; fourth, you will have fruit 

 and quality and of superior and luscious flavor. 



You have no conception of the hard work, the experimenting, and 

 the persistence with which the great variety in apple growing has been 

 won; and the annual gatherings with their intense interest are indica- 

 tions of the joy and triumph over diflficulties supposed to be insur- 

 mountable. 



Great interest has been manifested over other fruits. We see plum 

 enthusiasts, who, from the native plum, have evolved wonders in size 



