MINNESOTA FRUIT EXHIBIT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 465 



These dear people who admire our exhibits of fruits so much do 

 not imagine how much work it is to keep it up in such a condition. 

 Comparing our exhibit with that of other states I can say that the 

 work on ours is triple or four times as much, even if other states 

 have larger exhibits. If our fruit were placed on tables like the 

 other states have placed theirs, the work to keep the tables and fruit 

 •clean would be comparatively little, and very handily done. But on 

 •our exhibit the shelves are so arranged that each shelf needs extra 

 work and care and often each plate. Besides this there was the work 

 to place the fruit on the windmill. One day during my stay three 

 "barrels of apples were placed on the windmill, which took two men, 

 w^orking hard, all day to do it. 



Mr. Thomas Redpath, the assistant in charge of the exhibit, is 

 the right man in the right place. He not alone knows how to do the 

 work but he does it, too. He certainly does all that can possibly be 

 done to make the Minnesota exhibit an honor to the state, and I 

 received the impression that he succeeded remarkably well. During 

 my stay, I had the opportunity to see in what condition the fruit 

 shipped there arrived. Some of the fruit arrived in first class con- 

 dition, but other shipments were badly bruised and some decayed. 

 It was all due to the manner in which the fruit was packed. 

 Wherever the fruit was nicely packed, and the box or barrel filled 

 solidly, so that the apples could not move back and forth, they 

 arrived in good condition, but where they had a chance to move they 

 were badly bruised. When I left we had some very fine and large 

 Wolf River, N. W. Greening and many other showy varieties of ap- 

 ples on the table, also a nice display of grapes and cranberries. 



SOME IMPROVED HOME GROUNDS IN MINNEAPOLIS. 



MRS. M. M. BARNARD, MINNEAPOLIS. 



This paper is not concerned with the park-like surroundings of 

 any of the palatial homes of which Minneapolis is so justly proud, 

 and except for the purpose of defining the limitations of the topic 

 it would not be necessary to mention them ; for the home grounds 

 here referred to are those where no hired gardener is employed and 

 where careful economy is necessary in the expenditure of both time 

 and money, and yet where the results have added materially to the 

 fame and beauty of the city. It was to encourage such efifort that 

 the Commercial Club in 1902, and again in 1903, offered cash prizes 

 for best kept lawns, and in recognition of former efforts along simi- 

 lar lines requested the Improvement League to appoint a committee 

 composed of three of its members to inspect the yards of all com- 

 petitors. This is an endeavor to give a brief report of the work of 

 that committee ; perhaps it would be better to say experience of that 

 commitee, for the Public Affairs Committee of the Commercial Club 

 had really done the work. The lists were all prepared, the city for 

 convenience divided into five districts, and four cash prizes offered 

 in each district : first and second for best kept and most attractive 



