254 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



would have waited to see how those poplars behaved after a series 

 of years. Had I done so I would not have recommended them at 

 all, for the trees themselves for the most part have long since dis- 

 appeared, the prey of the cottonwood borer. A little of caution, a 

 little of waiting to hear the evidence would have lead to a different 

 judgment. 



I admit that it is difificult, very difficult, for a new beginner to 

 be anything but an optimist. Hope lures him on, and in the first 

 flush of what seems success he sees a future bright and beautiful. 

 His garden becomes full of potential possibilities, and he expects that 

 before long it will flourish like the first garden, as described in the 

 myths that have come down to us from the springtime of the world. 



Now there is Superintendent Gregg, old enough to have become 

 judicial minded — and who has but recently become a tree planting 

 enthusiast. He, too, has some Russian poplar sprouts in his grove 

 that have made a phenomenal growth, and straightway he comes be- 

 fore the society in his hearty, convincing way and sounds the praises 

 of the promising poplar. At the last meeting of the society no one 

 arose to throw cold water on his delightful optimism. The Russian 

 poplars will disappear from his grove fast enough, and he will not 

 be greatly damaged, for from his report one can see that he has other 

 good trees to take their places. 



But this would be a dull world if it were not for the enthusiasts. 

 New ideas are not so very plentiful, and new things in horticulture 

 do not always come out as their promoters prophesy. We can afford 

 to stand by and see the new recruit get comfort and glory in sound- 

 ing the praises of some promising new thing. We should look at it 

 as only the fuss and fustian of some braggadocial attorney in his pre- 

 liminary skirmishing and wait until we hear the evidence before we 

 allow him to bias our opinion or are lead to pronounce judgment 

 before the case is fully before the court. 



Mr. Underwood : How about the Carolina poplar ? 



Mr. Moyer : It does well in western Minnesota, where it can get 

 its roots down to the water, but on dry soil it does not do well. 



The President : In Washington, in that arid country where they 

 cannot raise wheat, they raise the Carolina poplar, and it does well. 



Prof. R. A. Emerson (Neb.) : In Colorado it does well. 



Soft Snails in Gardens. — The liberal use of air-slaked lime and un- 

 bleached wood ashes at the rate of two tons to the acre will lessen the injury 

 from snails. As a rule, they are most troublesome where the ground is wet — 

 and thorough underdraining might also be of advantage. If the snails appear 

 after the crops are planted the sprinkling of air-slaked lime or wood ashes over 

 the plants will destroy the snails. The addition of paris green at the rate of 

 one pound to fifty of ashes or lime, in case it can be used with safety to the 

 plants, will also be beneficial. — L. R. Taft, Michigan. 



