466 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the woman's club. There was no room for the old man in the 

 house, so they carried him to the granary. There was a great lot 

 of eating and drinking; they set the table seven times, and about 

 the time they were through and the procession was ready to start 

 they made the discovery that there was no preacher present. I was 

 the only American there, and they did not know what to do The 

 father said before he died that they should get a preacher, but if it 

 cost anything they should not get him. The son had gone to see 

 a preacher, but he had come home without engaging one. A man 

 came to me and said they were in a whole lot of trouble, thev were 

 ready to bury this man, but they had no preacher to conduct the 

 services and asked me to say something. Well, I told him I had 

 talked at farmers' institutes. I had sold goods at auction and had 

 talked at horticultural and agricultural meetings, but this was a new 

 kind of a deal for me ; I had never preached a funeral sermon. I 

 asked them to sing three or four verses while I thought of some- 

 thing to say, and they sung those verses pretty quick for me. They 

 had covered that casket all over with wild flowers, and after noting 

 this, I told them how the children would go out into the woods 

 in the spring, how they would remember the father when they saw 

 the wild flowers growing, and then I spoke about the cultivated 

 flowers making the home beautiful and being such a grateful offer- 

 ing. Those children came and shook hands with me and thanked 

 me for what I had said — I suppose one reason was because it did 

 not cost them anything. The next spring they planted flowers, and 

 it is a fact that on that place they have had a nice flower garden 

 every year since. So I think I have done a little good in the world 

 educating farmers. (Applause.) 



THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CROSS POLLINA- 

 TION 



PROF. N. E. HANSEN, SOUTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 

 BROOKINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA. 



The topic assigned to me may properly be divided into two parts, 

 as indicated by the title. 



The wonderful results obtained by the florists in improving or- 

 namental plants gathered together from the ends of the earth have 

 made gardens and greenhouses a realm of beauty. I need not stop 

 here to tell all the work done in crossing fruits. In the limited time 

 available it will be best to speak of crossing from the standpoint of 

 the amateur who wishes to do his part in improving the fruits of 

 the northwest. By crossing is meant the union of different varieties 

 of the same species, such as the Wealthy apple with the Hibernal, 

 or the Duchess with the Ben Davis. By hybridization is meant the 

 union of two different species, such as the Siberian crab with the 

 Duchess apple ; the sand cherry with the Miner plum, as exemplified 

 in the Compass ; or the Chinese pear with the pear from western Eu- 

 rope, as exemplified in the Kieffer. In other words, a hybrid indi- 



