28 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT, 1906. 



A. W. LATHAM, SECRETARY. 



Sixteen full years now I have had the pleasure of serving this 

 society as its principal working- ofificer, and the work, I assure you, 

 has been a uniformly agreeable one. The close of every year marks 

 an epoch in our lives, and as I bring to you the report of what has 

 taken place in the life of the society in the year past I arn prone 

 to indulge somewhat in reminiscence, especially as I realize the far- 

 reaching changes that have taken place in the society and in the 

 scope and direction of its work during the period of sixteen years 

 referred to. 



The first year of my secretaryship wa? that of i8qi, in which 

 year there were on the roll one hundred ninetv-nine annual mem- 

 bers and forty life members. The changes in these lists will prob- 

 ably typify as much as anything else the changes that have come 

 about in the society and in its work as o whole. Of the annual 

 members of that year thirty-five are knov;n to your secretary to 

 have passed to the life beyond, and this list includes the names 

 of many zealous in our work, too long 3 list to rehearse at this 

 time. Seventy-six of the others are known to be still with us, 

 leaving eighty-eight of whose present condition \/e are ignorant. 

 Of the forty life members of that year, twenty-two are known to 

 be no longer with us, and this list includes many whom we knew 

 exceedingly well for their earnest work for the society. The last 

 one of these to pass from us was Mr. Wm. Somerville, the date 

 of whose death is the 2ist day of October of this year. Mr. Men- 

 denhall, another of this class, preceded him by only a few on days. 

 Mr. Mendenhall's name appears as the seventh life member on the 

 honorary life roll of our society. 



The membership of the society has steadily increased from the 

 date referred to until the membership roll for 1906 now stands 

 at 2,027 annual members and 157 life members, a total of 2,174. 



Sixteen years ago the society was printing and binding for 

 distribution, according to the law enacted in 1887, 3,500 reports 

 annually. The present year there were printed and bound for 

 the society 2,700 volumes of our report, besides the 2,300 maga- 

 zines, which are sent out to members and exchanges each month. 

 The annual appropriation from the state has been increased from 

 $1,000 to the sum of $2,500. The revenue of the society for 

 memberships has, of course, increased proportionately to the 

 increase of members. Another source of revenue not known in 



