secretary's corner. 359 



Truth in a Nut Shell.— "A good many varieties of winter apples can not 

 survive a severe Minnesota winter. Now the crab root and stock that has a 

 surplus vitality, like the Gould or Virginia or Hibernal, comes to us and says; 

 'I can give off surplus vitality to make up the otherwise failure.'' What a 

 wonderful plan to tide over what a few years ago we thought would always be 

 a failure in this state. This good subject ought to add ten to twenty to the 

 seventy years of my life." Seth H. Kenney. 



Fruit for the Winter Meeting.— Are you remembering to store fruit 

 for the win' er meeting? In preparing for the state fair this might be over- 

 looked, and we consider it of equal importance to the work of the society that 

 the fine annual December show of the society should be maintained. As far 

 as these fruits can be kept at home it is well that it should be so, but any that 

 will not keep well there should be put in cold storage here in Minneapolis. 

 It will be kept here and delivered without charge at the place of meeting on 

 the day before it opens. Cold stoiage tags can be had of the secretary by all 

 who desire to use them. 



Secretary Barnes of Kansas. — The secretary of the Kansas Horicult- 

 ural Society, W^m. H. Barnes being in Mmneapolis during the G A. R. Con- 

 vention in August, paid the office a vi>it and was duly impressed with the fact 

 that there was more fruit raised in Kansas than in Minnesota, which we were 

 prepared to admit. Mr. Barnes is a man of large and successful experience 

 with the Kansas society and under his fostering care there are maintained 

 throughout the slate sixty local horticultu-al societies, which he visits yearly 

 or oftener. The office of the Kansas society is in the state capitol, where they 

 are in palatial quarters, with a room thirty by fifty feet, sixteen feet high and 

 appropriately lighted and furmsht d. When we come to know how some 

 other societies are doing, we also have stirrings of ambition and live in hopes. 



The President of the Iowa Society. — Pres. W. A. Burnap, the well 

 known horticulturist of Clear Lake, Iowa, at present president of the Iowa 

 State Horticultural Society, spent a half day about the middle of August 

 with the secretary, who er joyed very much th renewal of old acquaintan^hip 

 in this way and took advantage of the opportunity to learn a lot of things 

 about the Iowa society, which we hope to fit into the workings of the Minne- 

 sota society as occasion offers. What is said heretofore about the Kansas 

 • society office applies also to the Iowa society, which is elegantly housed in 

 one of the finest capitols of the states. Iowa, we understand, has four local 

 societies, which hold annual meetings and report to the state society. Each 

 of these local societies covers the field of approximately a quarter of the state. 



An Old Member Called. — No one amongst the many callers last month 

 was more welcome than Mr. A. H. Brackett, an old time member and for some 

 years treasurer of this society, who eight years ago moved with his family to 

 Skaguay, Alaska. For some years previous to his removal, Mr. Brackttt was 

 a successful fruit grower on the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, as all the 

 older members of the society know. We have been in touch with him throughout 

 these years and during most of the time his name has appeared upon our 

 membership roll. He sent us at one time for exhibition at the slate fair a fine 

 exhibit of Alaska vegetables, which came to the fair fr m Skaguay in the ex- 

 traordinary time of six days- Mr. Brackett is now permanently located in 

 Seattle, where he has developed a successful business. 



