72 HISTORY OF HORTICULTURE IN MINNESOTA. 



cliiiibiDg vines, blooming asters, an occasional evergreen, snowballs, and other 

 ornamental shrubbery ; and onh" consider that one costs but little more than 

 the other. W ho ever saw a house on the prairie without a shrub or tree planted 

 around it, but did not feel tliat it had a lonesome view? Wheat stacks and 

 straw piles as large as small mountains will not suffice. Something is want- 

 ing to give it a home-like appearance. We tind that it is not so expensive to 

 raise precious herbs, such as rosemary and sweet basil, as it is to let wild 

 buckwheat, burr weed, muUen, fennel and cockrel flourish. 



It cannot be expected that we can disseminate the work we are engaged 

 in, without the aid of the press of the State The newspaper is the great 

 propagandist of information, and every publication from the Iowa line to 

 Lake Superior, from the Mississippi to the borders of the Kedwood, are in 

 sympathy with us, and the fruits of our labor are transferred by these faith- 

 ful missionaries to the firesides of the people. 



New horticultural pursuits are being developed. For instance, it is not 

 too much to expect that the day is not far distant, when sugar, made from the 

 beet, will be a great staple of the State. 



We know that horticulture must travel hand in hand with agriculture, 

 and there is no reason why the farmer should not have his orchard and gtir- 

 den as well as his wheat, his oats, and corn. Since the organization of the 

 territorial government in 1849, up to the present time, there never was a peo- 

 ple more prosperous than the farmers of this State. By industrious habits 

 and sterling integrity, they have made the wilderness t(^ bloom like a garden. 

 The choicest herds to be found in the East have been introduced by such en- 

 terprising gentlemen as Col. Wm. S. King, Wm, L, Ames, M. C. Potter and 

 others. These herds occupy the same grounds so recently the haunts of the 

 buffalo. Every civilization found in any part of the world dAvells here. A 

 healthy and pleasant climate, a rich and fertile soil, all that is Avanted to make 

 us favored beyond the lot of almost any people, is more attention to horticul- 

 tural matters. This can be done without neglecting our crops of grain, our 

 great healthy fat stock, and the general work on the farm. 



Croakers we have. They are found in every connnunity, but they are grow- 

 ing less and less each year. It is expected that there will be no croaking by 

 and by. They are becoming convinced. When they see the same varieties of 

 apples, such as the Duchess of Oldenburg, the Tetofsky, the Transcendent, 

 one-third larger — of an infinitely superior quality over those grown in the 

 iLast and further South — it is expected they will be willingly convinced. 

 Probably it is a law of nature that all apples that reach maturity here are 

 larger than those raised from five to ten degrees south of us. When we con- 

 sider what has been accomplished,, the manner in which so many obstacles 

 have been overcome, we cannot but feel that we have a bright prospect for 

 our future success. Let the Society then renew their Avork with increased 

 vigor. 



It is to be regretted that the President, John S. Harris, the best horticul- 

 turist in Houston county, cannot be Avith us. He is confined to his home by 

 severe illness, but he sends his heartfelt gi'eetings, and assures the Society 



