442 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



State farm school ; and there I understand it is to be accompanied 

 by the portraits of other eminent horticulturists, not only of this 

 state, but of other states ; and the whole group, I hope, will serve 

 as an inspiration to those who will gather there for instruction. It 

 will not only inspire them in their work, but will give them to under- 

 stand that the people of the state are willing to recognize in a fitting 

 and substantial manner ahy eminence they may attain. 



]VTeii^orial ^4^oUr. 



In special commemoration of W. W. Pendergast, E. H. S. Dartt and 

 Jas. T. Grimes, all of whom died during the preceding year. 



MEMORIAL HOUR ADDRESS. 



S. M. OWEN, MINNEAPOLIS. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : Whatever contribution 

 I may make to this occasion will be a spontaneous one from the 

 heart. I assure you the head has had no previous work and has 

 made no previous preparation for what I shall say. In fact, at this 

 moment I do not know myself what I will say. 



Before proceeding to speak of the three members whose mem- 

 ories we are to commemorate today, I think it is proper to say that 

 the shadow of death has fallen upon two of our living members, 

 that upon our stricken and beloved president in the loss of the wife 

 of his bosom and the mother of his children, and in the affliction 

 of our other brother, Mr. Elliot, whose family has also been stricken 

 in the death of a sister. We should remember these men in their 

 affliction if for no other purpose than that we may be able to say 

 hereafter that while they are sorrowing in their homes at this 

 moment, as they are, that we here had been thoughtful of them, 

 and I believe they are conscious of the sympathy we have for them, 

 and that that sympathy in this hour will help them to bear the burden 

 of the great affliction that has fallen upon them. 



It seems to me these recent deaths are calculated to attune our 

 hearts to a more feeling and a more sympathetic participation in 

 this little memorial service we are about to take part in. 



This memorial hour of this society I regard as one of the sweetest 

 as well as one of the most appropriate of all its work. It is so 

 natural in this organization, meeting as it does at least two times a 

 year, and bringing together substantially the same individuals every 

 time, which brings with it an intercourse and an interchange of 

 thought and a communion of spirit that greatly appeals to us and 

 that deserves this sort of recognition of the memory of those who 

 go before us. 



This occasion is getting to be almost if not quite an annual one. 

 As the society grows in years it must necessarily be so. The mem- 

 bership of this society that is now conscious only to our memory 

 and to our recollection of them, is getting larger every year, and 

 the responses to the roll call of this society that can be heard only 



