8o MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Proposed Orchard Experiment Station. — The membership of the 

 society generally know of the effort being made to secure a suitable tract 

 of land to be used with the State Experiment Station for the purpose of test- 

 ing and originating new varieties of apples and other fruits. It is an impera- 

 tive need in the further development of the pomology of this region. A bill 

 similar to the proposed bill to be found on page 63 of this issue has been 

 presented in each house of the Minnesota Legislature and is now under con- 

 sideration, and members of the society are urged to take early opportunity 

 to speak or write to the members of the legislature from their districts, re- 

 questing their assistance in the passage of this important measure. Two or 

 three articles in this number, which will be found by looking it through, bear 

 upon this subject and will give you all the information needed to rnake an 

 intelligent appeal. Please do not neglect this but give it early attention and 

 help forward the work. 



Annual Meeting, Minnesota State Agricultural Society. — The regu- 

 lar annual gathering of this society, whose principal work is the operation 

 of the Minnesota State Fair, was held in Minneapolis, Jan. 8th to loth. Mr. 

 F.« H. Nutter, of Minneapolis, and Mr. R. A. Wright, of Excelsior, with the 

 president of our society ex-officio, were present as representatives of the 

 horticultural society. An interesting and helpful program occupied the better 

 part of three days, the subject of horticulture, however, being conspicuous 

 by its absence. Much interest was manifested in the subject of the estab- 

 lishment of local agricultural schools, which crystalized into the form of 

 a series of resolutions directed to the state legislature, urging a practical 

 movement in that direction. The annual election resulted in Hhe re-election 

 of all the old officers, and since then Secretary Randall has been re-elected by 

 the board, so that there will be no change in tlic management of the state 

 fair for the coming year. 



Prof. N. E. Hansen at Home Again. — A telegram from Prof. Hansen 

 received on the opening morning of our annual meeting, sent from San 

 Francisco, indicated the time of his return from the trip he has made the 

 past summer in Siberia and Northern Europe in the interest of "novelties in 

 fruits, shrubs, flowers, etc., as well as cereals, grasses and forage plants." As 

 to his journey he says in a personal letter, "It was a rough, adventuresome 

 trip, but I got through safely, and I feel much pleased because I was enabled 

 to complete the work I started nine years ago, namely to trace the northern 

 distribution of alfalfa throughout the continent of Asia. I picked up the 

 trail where I left it in Siberian deserts nine years ago and carried it clear 

 across Asia and found even more than I hoped for. It was an exciting hunt, 

 and I think it was worth while." We may expect something more definite 

 than this from the professor for publication in our journal before long. As 

 to his work in plant breeding at Brookings he says " I think I willlet some of 

 my new hybrids and some of my new seedlings go out for trial this spring." 



Honor Roll for January. — The following are the names of those who 

 have secured new members for the society during the month of January up 

 to the 28th. inst. :— S. H. Kenney, Waterville, i ; F. C. Winkley, Mpls., i; E. 

 Bonde, Cottonwood, 2 ; A. H. Reed, Glencoe, 2; McLeod Co. Hort. Society. 

 3 ; V. A. Neil, Mpls., 3 ; E. J. Dickman, St. Paul, 3 : John Torgerson, Milan, 

 i; Chas. Haralson, Brookings. S. D., 4; S. O. Miller, Lakeville. i; M. Olson, 

 Montevideo, 2 ; D. W. C. Ruff, St. Paul, 3 : F- J- Cowles, West Concord, 2; 

 Jewell Nursery Co., Lake City, i : John E. Stryker, St. Paul, 3 ; E. J. Lovold, 

 Mpls., I ; O. C. Christoferson. Mpls., i ; Wm. Sandrock. Rushford, i : A. 

 Brackett, Farmers' Institute. 49; R. A. Schutz, Farmers' Institute, 67; J. P. 

 Andrews, Faribault, 3 ; H. H. McLean, Rockford. 2 : Chas. A. Lund, Vining. 

 I ; Geo. W. Strand. Taylors Falls, i ; A. P. Jenson. Mpls., i ; A. B. Lyman, Ex- 

 celsior, I ; So. Minn. Hort. Society. 33 ; M. O. Besserud. Maple Plam. i ; 

 Minn. State Beekeepers' Society, 30; L. B. Arnold. Duluth. i : John Bisbee, 

 Madelia, 2. 



