Secretary's ^ori^er. 



The Originator of the Roger's Grapes Dead. — Edward S. 

 Rogers died at his home in Peabody, Mass., March 30th. He origin- 

 ated the many varieties of grapes known as Roger's Hybrids, many 

 of them of great excellence. The Agawam, Massasoit, Lindley and 

 some others are well known and very popular in our state. He is 

 said to have been the second man to artificially hybridize the grape. 



The Forest Reserve Law. — Several pages are occupied in this 

 number with the law just enacted by our legislature creating a 

 forestry board in this state. This law was the conception, as we are 

 informed, of Capt. J. N. Cross, of Minneapolis, and while others 

 assisted in framing it and worked earnestly in its interest, the 

 credit of its final enactment largely belongs to him. The board 

 provided for in this law will doubtless be organized at once. Our 

 society will have one representative thereon. 



Montana has a New Scale Law.— Montana has just created a 

 State Board of Horticulture, whose sole duty seems to be to keep 

 insects injurious to plants out of the state. The law is a regular 

 ironclad and if executed efficiently should keep the orchards and 

 nurseries of the state clean. It should be operative, too, as it gives 

 its secretary $1,000 per year, and $5.00 per day to inspectors, with a 

 necessapy appropriation to foot the bills. The fruit industry in 

 Montana must be thriving. We note the familiar name of S. M- 

 Emery as a member of the board. 



Life Certificates Ready for Distribution. — Certificates for the 

 life members of this society are now ready for distribution. They 

 are printed on light cardboard and can be sent safely by mail en- 

 closed in a stiff pasteboard roll, or they can be sent by express in a 

 neat frame for immediate hanging on the wall, if desired. Arrange- 

 ments have been made for putting them in such a frame at an ex- 

 pense of only sixty cents, including packing for shipment, wire for 

 hanging, etc. The frame is of oak, with a gold band within. It is 

 not a wide frame, but sufficiently so for the size of the certificate 

 Kindly notify the secretary whether you will have it framed or not' 

 and if framed enclose the expense. 



Injury to Minnesota Fruit the Past Winter. — Reports re- 

 ceived to date do not indicate any extensive injury to hardy fruits in 

 our state from the extraordinarily cold weather of the past winter^ 

 Varieties of apple and plum trees not classed as "hardy" in our state 

 have come out of the winter in very bad shape, but there is com- 

 paratively little of this class of stock been set here late years. Pears 

 are largely dead and plums other than natives. Small fruits not 



