416 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Will horticulture pay here? No matter what business one may 

 be in. if he is successful he must understand that business. In horti- 

 culture he must know the value of fertilizers and how to apply them. 

 He must know how to fight insects and bugs. He must study out 

 and adopt the best way to conserve moisture. As a rule, we suffer 

 more from lack of water than from excess. When this rule is re- 

 versed, he must understand how to get rid of it. He must grow low 

 headed trees, and in order to do this he must understand the art of 

 pruning. Bean pole pruning will not do for this climate. No one 

 denies but what it pays to grow small fruits here ; it also pays to 

 plant out windbreaks, or shelter belts, ornamental trees and shrubs, 

 to protect and ornament our homes. Horticulture carried on by the 

 intelligent, observing man will pay, but not otherwise. 



As for quality, cultivation alone will improve it wonderfully, 

 in all varieties of fruits. Good cultivation and thinning the crop 

 cause all the difference between those superb specimens of fruit 

 which grace the tables in our show rooms and such miserable fruit 

 as we sometimes see borne on the grass grown, weed choked, mice 

 gnawed trees of the slipshod farmer's grounds, planted out with 

 hardly the expectation, but rather with a sort of dim hope, that they 

 would grow and take care of themselves. Good fruit is always 

 grown under the eye of vigilance and industry. 



Mr. Thomas said, "The assertion may be made with safety, that 

 more trees are lost from neglected after culture than from all other 

 causes put together. Horticulture rightly directed will pay here. 

 In addition to growing fruits, let every one owning land plant out 

 trees and shrubs, the number depending upon the space desired to 

 ornament — not crowded together nor in straight lines, but naturally 

 and judiciously, allowing glimpses of distant views, and yet suffi- 

 ciently near the residence to afford a refreshing shade. Clustered 

 in the nooks and corners, let the various flowering shrubs perfect 

 their bloom in masses, so arranged that in the varied tints an added 

 charm may each succeeding day be seen and felt. Along the borders 

 of the walks, place neatly executed beds of flowers, few and plain, 

 yet filled with choicest plants. By such means we make home dearer 

 to ourselves and weave attractions around the spot that yield a fund 

 of pleasure unsurpassed. And as the years roll on, each plant and 

 tree therein becomes to us as a trusty friend, endeared by sweet 

 associations of the past and bound by recollections of the care be- 

 stowed upon its younger growth." 



