114 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



modate boating on park waters. A successful or ideal park must 

 provide facilities for recreation and, to a certain degree, objects 

 of attractiveness in horticultural displays — especially so in the high 

 northern latitudes where, on account of the long, bleak winters, 

 the floral decorations in public parks excite special admiration 

 during the short summer season — and if judiciously located within 

 properly circumscribed limits in any park they will not be in con- 

 flict with any landscape scenery, or with the general character 

 of naturalness in the park except as to strict rurality. The great 

 mass of the people enjoy flowers. They also pay for the parks. 

 While the chief and all-predominating feature of an ideal park lies 

 in its recreative qualities, let no confusion occur. Attractions intro- 

 duced for a special purpose of drawing a crowd are foreign to the 

 meaning and intent of true park management. Nothing should 

 be introduced, and nothing permitted, which would have a tend- 

 ency to lessen its value and usefulness as a recreation ground for 

 all classes of people ; a safe and decorous place, within easy reach 

 of the people, of a city by trolley car, at reasonable rates of fare, 

 or other modes of conveyance, where families with children, sick 

 or convalescent persons, the nature-loving enthusiast and the fru- 

 gal workman alike may find a* visit to it refreshing, restful, profit- 

 able and beneficial to soul and body. 



ENCOURAGING EXPERIENCE IN TOP-WORKING THE 



APPLE. 



F. W. KIMBALL, AUSTIN. 



My attention, I think, was first called to the utility of top- 

 working by the writings of Edson Gaylord, of Nora Springs, Iowa, 

 and of J. V. Cotta, of Nursery, 111. Later correspondence with 

 them, and especially with Mr. Gaylord, aroused an interest which 

 has not abated one whit, but which has constantly increased. Upon 

 the invitation of Mr. Gaylord I spent two days with him, and he 

 drove me" about the country, showing trees of seemingly tender 

 varieties, long in bearing, which were strong and healthy when 

 top-worked on hardy stocks, and in which it was hard to detect the 

 point of union, so perfect had been the growth. 



I think it was a matter of good fortune, rather than any general 

 foresight, which impelled the selection, in most instances, of the 

 Duchess for the stock. It was at a time when people began to 

 think that most any kinds could be grown, when reliable nursery- 

 men like A. W. Sias, of Rochester, and P. A. Jewell, of Lake City, 

 and many others, were recommending and sending out varieties 



