HISTORY OF HOKTICLILTURE IX MINNESOTA. 163 



importance demands. There is no question that you feel an interest in tlie 

 success of the fruit growers of the State, as a matter of State pride, and we 

 come to YOU as to those whose high prerogative it is to legislate for the good 

 of the entire community, and ask you in the name of every resident of the 

 State, to aid in the enterprise — to give to the Society not only your approba- 

 tion, but an appropriation also. 



To the members of the Horticultural Society permit me to oiler some sug- 

 gestions which, at this season, may not be inappropriate. 



We are now in the midst of the long Winter common to this latitude, in 

 which we daily witness, in a peculiar manner, the power of the Almighty. 

 As the Psalmist says. " He giveth snow like wool. He scattereth the hoar 

 frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels : who can stand before 

 His cold ? " 



A season when the face of the country is hid as with a white mantle, when 

 the Frost King decks our windows with fantastic forms, the air sparkles with 

 congealed atoms, and the chime of swiftly moving bells borne upon the keen 

 air fill our ears : when the trees, stripped of their green foliage, shiver in the 

 winter blast, or decked in snow, glitter in the rays of the morning sun ; when 

 the noisy brooks have ceased their babbling, and the skater glides swiftly 

 over the glassy surface of the frozen lakes and streams, that seem but await- 

 ing opportunity to engulf him in their treacherous depths ; when the wood- 

 man's axe resounds through the forests, and the tall pines that have survived 

 the storm of centuries fall to the earth with a crash that reverberates among 

 the hills and valleys : when nightly the moon shines with increased bright- 

 ness trom the blue vault of heaven, and the pole star glitters with redoubled 

 light from its home in the north, while attendant planets circle round in all 

 the brilliancj^ of courtly train : and when, while the icy breath of the north 

 wind moans dismally around our dwellings, the fagot is piled high upon the 

 hearth, and drawing close around its cheerful blaze with a feeling of thank- 

 fulness that we are not exposed to the rigor oi the cold without, Ave recall 

 tender remembrance of loved friends from whom distance has separated us, 

 or silently and sadly muse on the once familiar •• touch of a vanished hand, 

 and the sound of a voice that is still." 



But it is a season, also, with those engaged in the cultivation of the soil, 

 for thinking, reading, and reflecting, and one which every prudent man should 

 improve by making his past experience conduce to increased prosperity in 

 the future. 



At the commencement of each year, it is the custom of merchants, manu- 

 facturers, and business men generally, to go over the business of the past 

 year, take an inventory of their stocks, and by drawing a balance sheet, as- 

 certain the exact condition of their affairs. The various enterprises in which 

 thej' have engaged are carefully examined, the causes which lead to failure or 

 success are critically discussed, so that from the experience of the past, 

 knowledge may be treasured up for future operations. 



Why should not this be done by those engaged in horticulture as well ? 

 Such retrospection may save heav}"^ losses and disappointments in the time to 

 come. 



