466 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and see the gradual increase that has been made since that time and 

 see where we Are standing now, it gives me a great deal of pleasure 

 and satisfaction. 



While I have been pretty diligent, I can look back and see 

 where I have been very negligent in a great many things. I 

 hope the members here will take it upon themselves to grow 

 seedlings in their immediate neighborhood and report the re- 

 sults to our society. I regret very much that I have come to 

 my present age, because if I could go back and live the last 

 thirty years of my life over again I think I might accomplish 

 something, but as it is I have enlisted to go forward in the 

 work as far as I can and must leave the rest to posterity. 



The President : We hope to have Mr. Elliot with us thirty 

 years longer anyway. Now, I am going to call on Mr. Bush. 



Mr. A. K. Bush : Fellow members, in soliciting member- 

 ship, as I have many times for the society, all over the state, in 

 institute work, I have been encouraged by the many good things 

 that have been said of the society, much like that which Mr. 

 Terry has said, and it is a thing which is very gratifying to know 

 that we are doing a work that is benefiting the people of our 

 state. Minnesota horticulture stands in the front rank in this 

 country. (Applause.) 



The President : Now I am going to call for a few words 

 from Dr. Whetstone. She is always present at our meetings 

 and seems to enjo}'- them. 



Dr. Mary S. Whetstone : It is a pleasure to me to be a 

 member of a society whose purpose is so high and noble. You 

 are public benefactors and are seeking to make the world happier 

 'as well as healthier and wealthier in the art of growing fruit. 

 I was glad yesterday when the resolution was presented look- 

 ing to the preservation of trees. You know I am interested in 

 the study of mushrooms, but perhaps you do not all care to eat 

 them. But you will probably care to note this fact, that mush- 

 rooms that grow on live trees grow at the expense of the life 

 of the tree, and it is due to this fact that when a limb is broken 

 ofif or cut off, if it has been allowed to decay instead of being 

 protected, the tree will soon be destroyed. The seed of the 

 mushroom is floating in the atmoshphere and will lodge in 

 any place that will afford congenial soil for its growth. When 

 a tree has decayed in a portion of its trunk, or where a limb has 

 been broken or cut away and left a hole and debris has ac- 

 cummulated there, it forms a perfect soil for the propagation of 

 that germ. It shoots down its little mycelia into the wood of 

 the tree, and it is surprising how extensive that will be. There 

 was a tree on Nicollet avenue, on Mr. Reed's place, where 

 there was a large limb broken off by the great storm of a year 

 ago last August, and I was surprised and interested to learn 



