28 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
climate in which he lived, Not one tree in a thousand of all the seedlings 
that he produced was considered of any value by him. No amount of dis- 
couragement ever seemed to change his purpose or in the least to affect his 
perseverance; he still continued to plant and plant and grow and test those 
seedlings with the full assurance that his efforts would eventually be crowned 
with success. How far he succeeded in his expectations we only know by the 
valuable list of hardy apples which he originated. The Wealthy apple, for 
instance, stands pre-eminent in hardiness, size, quality and beauty of finish, 
and, if he had done nothing more, this tree alone would stand as a monu- 
ment to his memory. 
To us he has left a rich inheritance in those fruits which he originated by 
his own hand and at his own time and expense, but like most public bene- 
factors he died poor and almost neglected. 
With him the fast horse was an abomination and the state fairs a curse 
with that appendage. 
Mr. Gideon was a true horticulturist, ever ready to impart knowledge 
from his own experience with fidelity and honesty; warm in friendship, 
without guile. 
There never was but one Peter M. Gideon, but his sun has set behind the 
closing gates of heaven, and we can only see the silver lining of the cloud 
that hides from view while darkness intervenes. With him-it is not so. With 
him the day star of life has risen, floods of celestial light rush in to fill the 
space left vacant through the flight of time and man springs up immortal 
to assume the health and vigor of perpetual youth. For his sake alone, we 
could not for a moment wish it were not so. 
Mr. Gideon may have had his faults, we have ours. Whatever those faults 
may have been, let them be buried in oblivion forever. We only know the 
tender cord which binds our fraternal family circle is broken. In the loss of 
our brother a bright horticultural light has been extinguished. He will toil 
with us no more, for he has laid aside life’s wearisome burden at last, and 
we can only say fare thee well; and yet while we cherish his memory, let us 
also try to emulate his virtues, his integrity, his honor. 
TRIBUTE TO PETER M. GIDEON. 
HON. S. M. OWEN, MINNEAPOLIS. 
I should not, of course, say that I am gratified or pleased to be able to 
take part in this commemorative ceremony to the dead, but there is a satis- 
faction, a melancholy one, to me in this particular ceremony, or on this 
particular occasion, because I find here a wide departure from the cus- 
tomary commemorative exercises, in that a subject has been chosen that, as 
a rule, does not receive any consideration either before or after death from 
the great public or the great mass of our people. We are given to honoring 
the memory of the man who accumulates a great fortune for himself, and we 
rarely, if ever, stop to ask the means by which it was accumulated. We often 
hear the memory of a man commemorated whose only distinction came 
from the fact that he had achieved high official position, and even then we 
do not stop to question much how the position was reached; if he got there 
that seems to be enough to inspire our affection and induce us to honor 
him. 
We have some regard left also for the soldier, and it reaches a height 
in proportion to the amount of blood he has shed, but I doubt whether we 
