448 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



known for all the long time he had lived in that beautiful village. 

 Kind words were said of him, as none other could have been said. 

 The procession formed and followed his remains to the little ceme- 

 tery. He was laid away, surrounded by the friends of his early 

 youth and his old age, and some one said when we came away, "This 

 is the pleasantest funeral I ever attended." That was really true. 

 We could not have a feeling of regret only that we should never 

 see him more. We felt that his life's work was done, that he had 

 passed into the rest to which he was so justly entitled. We shall 

 miss him here year after year as we gather at our annual meeting, 

 yet we shall have blessed memories and a thankful feeling that we 

 knew him and that we loved him. 



Mr. Dartt I met nearly forty years ago as one of the earliest 

 members of this society. I knew him only as I met him at these 

 meetings. I knew him to be an earnest, conscientious and en- 

 thusiastic horticulturist. I knew that he felt that he was doing 

 something for the good of the state, and I knew that he really 

 washed to do something for the state, and I believe that he did. We 

 shall miss him at the meetings, especially the older meml>ers of 

 the society. We shall miss him for the energetic talk that the 

 gentleman who preceded me mentioned, and he did many times 

 enliven the meeting, but at the same time he told us something that 

 we were all glad to hear and to know. 



Mr. J. T, Grimes, the other member who has passed away, was 

 one of my earliest friends when I came to this city. He was here 

 several years before I came. He was always to me the same kind, 

 friendly gentleman. It is said that "An honest man is the noblest 

 work of God." Mr. Grimes was the personification of an honest 

 man. I have known him socially and in a business w^ay, and I al- 

 ways found him to be just the same honorable, upright and gener- 

 ous man. He was a most enthusiastic horticulturist, and his home 

 was an ideal one. It was then a farm quite a little distance from 

 the city, as we considered it at that time. It was surrounded with 

 all the beautiful things that nature could give him to plant. He 

 had trees, shrubs and flowers. Everything that was new he had, 

 and I think w^e are very largely indebted to him for many of the 

 beautiful shrubs that we see around in our grounds today. The 

 last time I met him was at the summer meeting of the horticultural 

 society. He was nearly blind, and yet he w^as going about trying 

 to see the fruit, feeling of it w-ith his hands in a loving way. His 

 daughter was with him and directed him to the various points of 

 interest to him. He said to me, "I was hardly able to get here, but 

 I had to come." We were all glad to see him. 



He has done his life w'ork. His name will be honored in this 

 community w^here he lived so long, and we can only hope that when 

 we older members of this association pass away that we may have 

 the same kind sentiments expressed toward us that I know we all 

 feel and express toward his memory. 



