34 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



NORTHERN ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 

 ANNUAL MEETING, 1898. 



R. S. MACKINTOSH, DELEGATE. 



I left the land of icebergs for a place which I supposed to be much 

 milder, but was much surprised to find every one trying to keep 

 warm. The thermometer was hovering near to zero and with a 

 rather sharp wind, which is very cold for that locality. 



On account of a wreck I did not reach Galva until 1 p. m. After a 

 hurried dinner I went to the hall to attend the opening session. 

 There were about thirty present, most of whom were from outside 

 towns. 



The program began with the report of the treasurer, Mr. Woodard. 

 Mr. Woodard has been the treasurer ever since the organizatisn of 

 the society, thirty-two years ago, 



The secretary did not make a formal report, but simply gave a 

 short description of the general features of the work and crops of 

 the past year. He reported that the early vegetables were very fine 

 snd brought a good price ; strawberries were the best that he ever 

 knew of, but as a result the price was low ; peaches, pears and 

 grapes were better than the average ; apples were a failure, due, no 

 doubt, he thought, to lack of care and cultivation. 



President Hartwell was very enthusiastic about his visit to the 

 Minnesota society. He could hardly hold himself within bounds 

 when speaking of our exhibil of apples. He pointed to the table 

 and remarked that those apples were all from Minnesota and were 

 all of different kinds. He said that it was not remarkable for a man 

 to show one hundred varieties of his own origination. He said also 

 that it was the most earnest body of men that he had ever met. 



After Mr. Hartwell had finished talking about Minnesota he read 

 his annual report. His chief desire was that the study of horticul. 

 lure shall be part of every child's study in the common school. He 

 also wanted to see more fruit and nuts at every farm-house. 



The rest of the meeting was filled with papers and discussions 

 bearing on such topics as mulching, cultivation, windbreaks, varie- 

 ties of apples, pears, peaches, etc., for home use and for market. 



The subject of spraying evoked much discussion. It was started 

 by a well-written paper by Mr. A. W. Bryant, the only young man 

 taking part in the program. The general opinion was that spraying 

 was necessary for the 'best results. The methods in many cases 

 needed to be improved. 



Your delegate was called upon to tell of the work of the School of 

 Agriculture in Minnesota. They feel that they need more advant- 

 ages for the education of the boys and girls from the farms. 



The society during the past year has suffered the loss of three of 

 its oldest members. They were Samuel Edwards, O. B. Galusha and 

 A. R. Whitney, the originator of the Whitney No. 20 apple. 



The papers on orcharding by H. A. Aldrich and James T, Johnson 

 were listened to with much interest, for they contained many useful 

 helps for one interested in orchard management on a large scale 



The entire meeting was one that was profitable to all that attended. 



