SECRETARY'S ANNUAL REPORT, 1899. 15 
ture, of the legislative committee, and of scores of other members and 
staunch friends of the society, who were “instant in season and out of sea- 
son” till the desired end was accomplished. The act as passed by the legis- 
lature was printed in the May number of our monthly and need not be 
quoted here. It did not give us all we desired, among other things an op- 
portunity to enlarge our work ina certain field, but it does place our printing 
on a safe and permanent basis to the same amount, quantity and quality as 
for some years previous, and it provided for the payment of the arrearages 
due the printers, who had so willingly carried the work over the interim. 
Unfortunately, the delay attending the passage of this legislation till mid- 
spring made a similar delay in the binding and issuance of the last report, and 
the further fact that the secretary’s spare time was occupied with matters con- 
nected with this unusual work had something to do, no doubt, with there 
being no increase of the membership during the current year. 
At the close of the society year 1899, the list of annual members stands at 
691. A good many names will still be added to this list, judging by the ex- 
perience of previous years. 
The roll of life members has received a much larger number of acces- 
sions in 1899 than in any previous year, fourteen names having been added 
to the list. As this is a list we are especially anxious to see grow, and it 
is desirable you should know what new fellow members for life have come 
to you lately, I append here the list: 
Jos. lerabek, Silver Eake; J. L. Hartwell, Dixon, Ii; J. C. Kramer. La 
Crescent; Andrew A. Nelson, Jr., Atwater; E. M. snecnaat Charles City, 
iar; se Eloverstad, Crookston; Thos.~C. Hawley, Lake Park: ©O.. W. 
Hagen, Sleepy Eye; Hans Mo, Sleepy Eye; Warren H. Manning, Boston, 
Mass.; A. W. Trow, Glenville; J. L. Adams, Glenwood; R. M. Dartt, Owa- 
tonna; E. W. Randall, Hamline. 
As far as my record shows, only two names have been dropped from this 
roll by death during the past year, viz., those of Peter M. Gideon, of Ex- 
celsior, Minn., and J. C. Plumb, of Milton, Wis. 
The full list of life members will be found in the report of the society for 
1899. It now numbers seventy-three. 
In this connection it may be noted that the certificates for life qnemibers 
so long in contemplation were finished and sent out to all life members dur- 
ing the past summer. It is a handsome lithograph and, suitably framed, is 
fitted to adorn the walls of any office or home. Any who are contemplating 
a life union with this honorable society and would like to see how this re- 
lationship is indicated can see a copy of the certificate hanging in the secre- 
tary’s office. For sixty cents any aspirant for this honor can have a copy of 
this certificate framed in a similar way, provided always a previous fee of 
$10.00 has been paid to the secretary. 
The life roll of our society should receive special attention. It is con- 
ceded that our annual roll is very much larger than that of any other similar 
association in this country, and the aggregate roll is also much larger, but of 
the life roll this cannot be said. There are a good many members on our an- 
nual list who have been paying annual fees long enough to have amounted to 
the life fee, and some very much more. All such, and every new member 
_ who conceives a lively interest in the various subjects connected with Min- 
nesota horticulture, should make haste to place their names in this perma- 
nent roll. It will be a wholesome move not only for the member, but es- 
pecially for the society, in whose work they will then have an abiding inter- 
