ANNUAL MEETING, IOWA STATE HORT. SOCIETY. 29 



of varieties of northwestern origin. There was no special exhibit 

 of seedlings that I noticed, though much attention is being paid to 

 seedlings, I judge, as the society is doing considerable systematic 

 work in connection with its trial stations in the way of making 

 crosses in the fruit blossom, and is working on a regular plan of 

 operation in connection with this hybridizing. It is yet too early, 

 I judge from a report made by Mr. Patten on this subject, to fore- 

 shadow results, but this is evidently a rich field in which to exper- 

 iment. 



The State Agricultural College was very largely represented in 

 the program. The State Entomologist, Prof. H. E. Summers ; pro- 

 fessor of horticulture, Homer C. Price ; and his assistants E. E. Lit- 

 tle and A. T. Erwin ; Prof. L. H. Pammel, the botanist ; president 

 of the college, W. M. Beardshear; the chemist, Prof. J. B. Weems ; 

 and five ladies from the college as follows: Miss Charlotte M. 

 King, Miss Mary A. Sabin, Miss A. Estella Paddock, Miss M. 

 Ethelda Morrison and Miss Addie L. Knight, whose official rela- 

 tions to the school I did not know and could not find on the pro- 

 gram, with the exception noted later. The assistance of these 

 trained minds, as you would infer, added very much to the strength 

 and interest of the program. About fifty were in attendance at 

 the meeting on Wednesday forenoon. At other sessions the num- 

 ber varied from fifty to eighty-five, which latter figure was ap- 

 proximately the capacity of the room. 



M. J. Wragg, the president, makes an excellent presiding offi- 

 cer with his hearty way of speaking, and carries the meeting along 

 very, pleasantly. The secretary evidently had a very well-sus- 

 tained plan for the meeting, and I judge him to be a very satisfac- 

 tory officer. It is a very good test of this to say that the Executive 

 Board at their annual session advanced his salary from $800 to 

 $1,200 a year. He gave a very interesting talk, accompanied by 

 charts, on the subject of the comparative rain supply and forest 

 tree growth, with the conclusion that Iowa is hardly a natural 

 forest country, as the statistics showed the rainfall to be too light. 

 I heard a similar view expressed by another speaker before the 

 meeting, but in conversation with the members, I doubt if that 

 view generally holds with the society. 



I had opportunity to make a few notes as anything especially 

 striking suggested itself to me, though in the cases of a number of 

 the papers the topics were of such a general character that it re- 

 quired more space than I could give to them to try to bring away 

 the pleasant and interesting things that were said. I will give briefly 

 here a few of the memoranda taken: 



