402 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



When the tree attains a certain age, fruit buds are forming; 

 the spring following, while the blossoms are opening, pollination 

 takes place, and the fruit begins to form. 



Trees of all kinds take only a small portion besides moisture 

 from the ground, the larger portion comes from the atmosphere. 

 The leaves are the chemists ; examine them. You will find innum- 

 erable organs on the lower side of them, which absorb the oxygen 

 from the atmosphere, manufacture it into the required substance 

 for the fruit the tree is destined to produce. Through the circula- 

 tion of the sap it is mixed, conveyed and deposited with the sub- 

 stance that comes from the roots. This is the regular course with 

 the trees that are acclimated to Minnesota. 



We were not satisfied with the trees that the climate of Minne- 

 sota allowed us to grow; we brought trees here from a lower lat- 

 itude and a lower altitude that were not endowed with that energy 

 necessary to withstand our winters. When the mercury goes down 

 to a certain degree their sap stops circulating, the composition thereof 

 is destroyed, life is extinct; between the bark and wood a brown 

 layer is forming, and before spring the bark is decayed. 



Many years ago the question arose in my mind — why? Our 

 forest and some of our hardy fruit trees were not killed when the 

 mercury registered forty-five below zero. The soft maple and elm 

 for instance; their buds will enlarge in the fall, ready to open out, 

 then freeze and thaw; yet when spring arrives no injury from cold 

 is visible. i 



It is apparent that these tender fruit trees were deficient in some 

 substance. Can we not assist nature and supply that deficiency? 

 By assisting nature men have achieved wonderful results. By top- 

 grafting the tender varieties on hardy stocks we have succeeded 

 in raising winter apples; if we plant these seeds, in four or five 

 generations we may have trees that are endowed with that energy 

 necessary to withstand the rigors of our winters. 



This is too tedious a way of getting hardy trees ; life is too short 

 to accomplish the desired result. 



The Grand Architect of the universe in his infinite wisdom has 

 left a way open for us to step in and assist nature. When Franklin 

 saw the electric spark drop from the string of his kite, he saw there 

 was something present worth investigating, but it was left for Prof. 

 Morse to step in and construct an instrument that could send a 

 message around our globe. Electricity permeates all nature, all and 

 every space in the universe. It keeps the machinery of our solar 

 system in motion, it keeps the valves of our hearts in motion to keep 

 our blood in circulation ; by the electric energy the sap in every plant 



