460 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



spot I ever visited in all my life, and yet, my friend, the nature of 

 the lumberman will have to change entirely if it is not accomplished 

 finally, and there is just one way to do it, and that is to make it so 

 hot for the congressmen of this state and other states that we can 

 reach that they will not dare to take a step backward. (Applause.) 



The Chairman : I am going to call on Mr. Kellogg, of Wiscon- 

 sin. 



Mr. Geo. J. Kellogg (Wis.) : I think I have enjoyed the meet- 

 ings of this society for over twenty-five years, and I have not missed 

 many of the meetings. It has been an inspiration all of these years, 

 and when I look back to the first horticultural work in Wisconsin, 

 picking huckleberries where Kenosha now stands, and see the 

 wonderful strides that have been made since that time in Wisconsin 

 and Minnesota, it is almost beyond comprehension. What had we 

 then but wild crab apples, thorn apples, butternut's and black wal- 

 nuts? That was about the extent of our fruit. We had a few 

 wild strawberries, huckleberries and blueberries, but we had none 

 of the larger fruits. I planted the first Rhode Island Greening tree 

 in Wisconsin in Kenosha county. I was a boy about eight years old 

 when I planted that tree, and it grew and flourished for years. The 

 first grafting I did was for my father in a little seedling nursery, 

 and those trees, grafted in 1838, some of them are standing today. 

 We grafted wild crab apples in the woods, and four miles west of 

 us is a wild crab apple that we grafted that is bearing today. When 

 we see the advancement today in horticulture I cannot compare it 

 with any other field better than electricity. I think horticulture is 

 marching right alongside of electricity. I hope to meet you again, 

 and I wish you all the success that you so richly deserve for your 

 enthusiasm and perseverance. (Applause.) 



The Chairman : I know we all hope Mr. Kellogg may be spared 

 to meet with us many years ; we always enjoy his coming. Now I 

 am going to call upon an Iowa man, Mr. C. F. Gardner. 



Mr. C. F. Gardner (Iowa) : I will say I have enjoyed my- 

 self very much at this meeting of the society, and that I have attend- 

 ed nearly all the sessions for the last fourteen years. It always 

 does me good to come here and again see the faces that I meet 

 here year after year — and to meet many new ones, although I re- 

 gret to say that some of the old faces are absent that have not been 

 absent at previous meetings and whom we shall probably never greet 

 here again. 



The Chairman : Now I am going to call on a man who is one 

 of the best men we have in the society, who is always doing good 

 but never saying anything : that's our old friend John Cummins. 



Mr. John Cummins : My father was a Quaker. He was a very 

 quiet man, and I am nearly as quiet. 



The Chairman: Well, we heard something from him anyway. 

 Now I am going to give the ladies a chance and am going to call 

 on Mrs. Gibbs. 



