460 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



sympathize with that idea, because I am figuring on trimming part 

 of my lawn in that way next season. I know that sheep are great 

 exterminators of weeds of all kinds, and they will keep a lawn in 

 very neat shape if they can be kept from trimming the shrubbery. 



The President : Have you tried a wash of tobacco and lime ? 



Mr. Pond : I have not tried it, but it might answer the purpose. 



Mr. Geo. J. Kellogg, (Wisconsin) : I think our wives and 

 children would kick on the sheep proposition. If the lawn is too 

 big you had better hire a man to mow it. (Applause.) 



The President: The difficulty is the farmer will buy sheep 

 quicker than he will a lawn mower. 



RAMBLING RECOLLECTIONS. 



F. I. HARRIS, LA CRESCENT. 



(So. ]\Iinn. Hort. Society.) 



A few years ago the question was often asked, "Can fruit be suc- 

 cessfully grown in Minnesota?" This has been so thoroughly an- 

 swered in the affirmative that it needs no further argument. While 

 practically everybody admits this fact, it still is an open question with 

 a great many whether it pays to grow fruit in this state or not. In 

 other words, should fruit growing be encouraged or had we better 

 turn our attention to general farming and buy fruit for home con- 

 sumption? It occurred to the writer that a few extracts from the 

 history of one of the pioneer fruit farms of southern Minnesota 

 might help answer this question or, at least, be of interest and, per- 

 haps, benefit to this meeting. 



The history of a country is the history of its rulers, and a his- 

 tory of an orchard must necessarily contain more or less biography 

 of its owner. I therefore submit the following without further 

 apology : 



In order to give dates and figures which are beyond my personal 

 recollection I have had access to my father's diaries and have en- 

 deavored to give a fair account of our successes and failures. I 

 find in the spring of 1856 my father began gardening in the now 

 city of La Crosse, Wis., but it turned out a very dry season, and he 

 became discouraged trying to raise anything on the old sand-bar, 

 and under date of June first of the same year sold his property in 

 La Crosse and bought twenty acres of land across the river in Min- 

 nesota and named it Sunnyside. This was before Minnesota was ad- 

 mitted into the union and at least this portion was practically a 

 wilderness. He spent a few days building a shanty and settling 

 up affairs, and on June 12th moved his family over and immediately 

 began clearing and planting a small patch of ground to vegetables. 

 He spent remainder of the summer caring for this and disposing of 



