ANNUAL MEETING, I9O5, N. DAK. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. IO7 



that you, as members, are thoroughly interested in the work of 

 horticulture in your state. A society that has a membership that 

 is interested is bound to accomplish something. 



"Pioneer horticulture is largely a labor of love. It pays him 

 who encourages this spirit just as it pays a man who plants a tree 

 and cares for it. The results cannot be measured by the present, 

 they are for future generations to pass upon. He who plants a tree 

 plants a good deed. 



"Your state opens a large field for your work. As I look over 

 your broad prairies and find them dotted here and there with timber 

 groves, I compare them with the prairies of central Minnesota, 

 which were once as bare as the prairies of your own state, and I 

 think of what has been accomplished there through the persistent 

 efforts of men in the planting of trees, and how they have not only 

 beautified but changed the character of the climate and landscape 

 by breaking and tempering the winds, sheltering the buildings from 

 the snows and storms ; and when I also think of the splendid orchards 

 that are there yielding fruit, and how not forty years ago the people 

 said that neither fruit for corn could be grown, and how all this has 

 been changed through the adaptation of varieties tO' soil and climate, 

 then I can see what great changes will be wrought in your state 

 in the next decade of years. You have everything to look forward 

 to, and the Minnesota State Horticultural Society will watch your 

 progress with interest, believing that your efforts will in a large 

 degree be crowned with success." 



These remarks were supplemented by numerous inquiries, and 

 at the request of the society Mr. Smith gave illustrations and in- 

 formation regarding propagation of hardy nursery stock, its selec- 

 tion and adaptation to the needs of the Northwest. He was fol- 

 lowed by Prof. Robertson of the Experimental Station, St. Anthony 

 Park, who spoke very ably and interestingly upon "Consolidation 

 of Rural Schools and their Organization." This closed the morn- 

 ing session, the afternoon session being omitted. 



It is to be regretted that so little time was devoted to horti- 

 culture, which in a general way is one of the most necessary and 

 helpful topics that could be arranged for the Northwest. 



