70 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



made an honorary member of the Northeastern Iowa Horticultural 

 society early in the session, tendered the freedom of the city by its 

 chief executive, royally entertained at the best hotels, and got back 

 across the state line without being missed. 



IOWA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, ANNUAL 

 MEETING, DEC. 11 TO 14, 1900. 



PROF. WM. ROBERTSON, ST. ANTHONY PARK, DEI^EGATE. 



Iowa is divided horticulturally into four districts, each district 

 having its organization auxiliary to the state society. Each holds 

 meetings and discusses questions affecting its particular territory. 

 Each receives aid from the state society to the extent of $150, with 

 a proposition at the last meeting to make the amount $200. Through 

 these auxiliary societies, the horticulturists make their greatest ef- 

 fort to reach the people of the state. This, along with the fact that 

 the State Agricultural Society was in session at the same time in 

 the same building, the state capitol at Des Moines, may explain why 

 Iowa's winter meeting was not so largely attended as we expected, 

 and why the fruit exhibit was so very limited. 



You can imagine our surprise to hear several enthusiastic 

 speakers proclaim that 'Towa is the greatest agricultural state in the 

 Union," when we have been told the same thing of A^Iinnesota so 

 many times from the platform that we had come to think that 

 nobody disputed the question. 



Iowa's membership is made up largely of men of long exper- 

 ience in horticultural lines; consequently, the papers read and the 

 discussions offered were very interesting and valuable. Many of 

 these men are, and have been for many years, doing original work 

 in the Hne of hybridizing and selecting, also growing seedlings, to 

 improve the quality and durability of our fruits. 



Very interesting in this line was a paper by N. K. Fluke, of 

 Davenport, a resident of Iowa for fifty years, a very, modest man, 

 but a persistent and enthusiastic experimenter. Wishing a large 

 1)lackberry easy to cover, Mr. Fluke pollenized Snyder. Ancient 

 Briton, Erie, Wilson's Early, etc., with the Lucretia dewberry. Of 

 fifty seedlings obtained, three were dewberry in character and never 

 amounted to anything. The others varied from the dewberry to a 

 blackberry as strong as the Ancient Briton. Of these, twelve were 

 selected for trial. The canes grow to the height of two feet and run 

 off on the ground to a distance of ten to twenty feet. Samples of 

 these plants were shown by Mr. Fluke. Root cuttings made from 

 these, and, after a year, set out in an exposed situation for fruiting. 



