448 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
belts of Colorado, Oregon and California, where fruit culture is an exact 
science, where a certain amount of labor and a certain amount of water - 
turned through a sluice produces a certain amount of fruit—and what is the 
result? Too often these immense crops rot under the trees or are harvested 
at aloss. I remember meeting a gentleman several years ago who had made 
a large fortune in blooded horses. He said it took the bulk of his profits from 
his stock farm to maintain the luxury of a California fruit farm. 
One of the finest exhibits in the horticultural building at the world’s 
fair was owned by a young lady from Oregon, who personally manages her 
own fruit farm. In our exchange of experience concerning our mutual vo- 
cation, she mentioned that the strawberry crop netted her 1%c per quart 
that year; my statement that ours had netted 10%c per quart met with well 
‘bred acquiescence, but probably did not improve her estimate of my ve- 
racity. But that region is not a menace to us, as they supply a demand 
which we never can. 
In contemplating the domain of hazardous fruit raising, which I will 
bound roughly by Maine, the Mason and Dixon line, the middle west and 
the northern limit of the apple, we have this selfish consolation, that the 
element of uncertainty is by no means greatest in our own state. With 
us we place our trust in such fruits as will stand any rigor of climate they 
may have to endure and endorse the gamblers’ motto, “The best you can 
expect is the worst of it.” 
In a large portion of the rest of this region, growers are engaged in 
the raising of fruits which will only stand a certain degree of cold. So 
when thirty degrees below travels 300 miles south of here, as it did in the 
winter just passed, it breathes on these tender fruits as the angel did on the 
hosts of Sennacherib. We have never met with any considerable loss of 
trees and can hardly realize what complete annihilation would mean. And 
yet these men standing on the ruins of their blasted hopes, begin their task 
of years again, and in this way they teach their lesson of perseverance 
“even unto the end.” 
In concluding the subject of location, I will say that our orchard is not 
situated where it is through chance or accident. While it is true its incep- 
tion antedates all railroads in the country, our people believed in Dakota 
and its future and that the day would come when an orchard of this size 
would find a ready demand for its products within the confines of the state. 
This day arrived years ago, and we have already begun to divide the trade 
with other orchards in the state, but there is room for us all. While it is 
true that we have some advantages over the fruit grower further south, the 
reverse is also true, and perhaps the greatest advantage in their favor is the 
cheaper labor and cheaper fruit packages. Day laborers in the fall receive 
one-third more in Dakota than they do in Missiouri, and crates and barrels 
probably cost a third more. And it is probably a fact that we pay twice as 
much to harvest strawberries as they do in Missouri, still as long as we com- 
mand three times their selling price, I think we can stand it. Briefly, in clos- 
ing, my experience has shown me the following facts which I submit to the 
present and prospective fruit growers of our state: 
That we can and do raise summer and fall apples that are unexcelled in 
our markets. 
That plum culture intelligently pursued is an unqualified success. 
That cherries will pay big returns for labor expended, though short- 
lived. And finally currants, gooseberries, raspberries and, especially, straw- 
